Open for control

Grant County Mosquito District 2 will meet in its new building Thursday night at 7 p.m. for the first time.

The 40-foot by 80-foot, 3,200-square-foot building houses the district's chemical storage, its two pickups, a laboratory, a restroom with shower, and a small meeting room where the five commissioners will meet for their monthly meetings.

Secretary of the five-member board of commissioners, Carl Russell, said the building cost $178,000, and was paid for with public tax funds.

Commissioners are Randy Gumm, president; Russell, commissioner secretary; Diane Canady, Hawk Wiebe, and Lynda Anderson.

Lisa Anderson is a paid hourly clerk of the district.

Mosquito District 2 essentially covers land from Steamboat Rock State Park through the city of Grand Coulee.

The building now is "bare bones" and the district will add floor coverings in its meeting room, restroom and laboratory later, according to Russell.

For the past two years, the district has been relying more heavily on treating the source of mosquitoes, rather than using the fogging method of control.

Russell said this spring that Mosquito District 2 contracted with District 1 to do the aerial spraying of Banks Lake.