HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-19-2020 IPM MinutesCITY OF SEBASTIAN
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
SUB -COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
UPSTAIRS CONFERENCE ROOM
1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FL
FEBRUARY 19, 2020
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Benton at 3:10 p.m.
Roll call
Present:
Mr. Carrano
Ms. Brothers
Mr. O'Neill
Ms. Haigler
Mr. Benton
Not Present
Dr. Cox — Excused
Also Present:
Janet Graham, Technical Writer
III. Announcements: None
IV. Public Input
Mr. Benton called on anyone from the public who would like to speak.
Robert Bedea, Sebastian. His main concern is the presentation that was put forth
at the last Council meeting. There was a PowerPoint presentation made without
anytime in a scientific fashion to make such claims. He also stated he is dismayed
because the moratorium was lifted soon after it was put in place, all because of fire
ants. He suggested that the best remedy for fire ant bites is coconut oil and baking
soda mixed together. It takes the immediate sting away, and there is no residual
sting or itch whatsoever. He suggested keeping some of that solution near the
parks as a first -aid remedy that would be a better alternative than broadcasting
poison. He also states that the community residents in general play a large part in
this situation. The citizens must be educated as well, but he feels the City has to
lead by example.
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Mr. Benton stated using Orange Guard was suggested by a resident at one of the
meetings. His staff purchased the product. He mentioned the results of that test
at the City Council presentation. The product was applied to two different fire ant
hills. He is not stating that it works or doesn't work. He is only reporting on the
facts his staff found. He emphasized that the City and staff are not a testing
agency. There is the University of Florida, IFAS, who can do the testing. Other
places have done testing similar to this along with other products such as rice. The
University of Florida, IFAS, has already given the testing results from those
products, that they did not work. However, Sebastian still did tests of it because it
was a member of the community's suggestion. Referring back to the Orange
Guard product, it was applied. He returned two days later, and there was already
an ant hill right beside where it had been applied where the ants had just moved
over, in his opinion. He did not return to investigate either hill, but he went back
before City Council's meeting of February 12 and tested both of the previous
mounds. Both of them were drenched. One of them was active still, one was
inactive. However, both of them had new ant hills that connected to them. So that
was his report on that product at the City Council meeting.
• Andrea Ring. She addressed the fire ant situation. She would prefer to control the
ants with natural remedies rather than chemicals. She mentioned hot water. Ms.
Haigler stated this committee will be discussing that at today's meeting.
Ms. Ring stated that Indian River County says they use the vinegar and water on
the big areas and asked if Sebastian has tried that. Mr. Benton stated his
understanding is that they used the vinegar, soap and water against weeds. The
parks director did state they use Top Choice for their fire ants in Indian River
County.
Mr. O'Neill stated there is someone at UCF who has a boiling water applicator that
he has come up with that is like a steam machine. Mr. O'Neill has a call in to this
gentleman to find out if it is commercially available or if he has the plans that he
would make available to this committee. Mr. Benton stated he has information
from some places where this machine has been tested for weeds.
Ms. Ring inquired whether hot water would kill the mole crickets. Mr. Carrano said
he did not find anything that has been tested like that. If really hot water is sprayed,
that will also take out the grass. Beneficial insects —earthworms —will also be
affected.
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Seeing no one else from the public who would like to speak, Mr. Benton closed the public
input session for now.
V. New Business
A. Review of GI BMP Manual
Ms. Haigler stated she requested to have the manual here today, but her contact person
did not reply. She stated that this manual, Green Industries Best Management Practices,
is the manual that City staff were trained on. She stated it has great detail on cultural and
physical controls. She reiterated that IFAS is the research institution for this; the City of
Sebastian is not. They do statistically significant testing of things in different
environments and different climates. They get research dollars to do this research to
compile this information. It has been tested, retested, and proven time and again before
it is published. Mr. Benton stated that a copy of this manual will be provided to all sub-
committee members as soon as it is available.
B. Committee member discussion of IPM for assigned species
I. Description of the life history of each
ii. Biological, cultural, mechanical, and chemical control
recommendations
Ill. Consider methods for use on Bermuda turf grass and general park
areas
iv. . Discussion of each method's costs, benefits and concerns
FIRE ANTS — Mr. O'Neill inquired regarding the Advion product. Ms. Haigler stated it
has been approved by the State of Florida for spot treatment and broadcast. Mr. Benton
stated Indoxacarb is the product that is in Advion.
Mr. O'Neill also inquired if Spinosad is a more natural solution. Ms. Haigler stated the
way to know is to find out how it works. Natural products attack the ants' reproductive
systems or their maturity rate. Mr. O'Neill stated that Entrust is the product with the
Spinosad, and he inquired of Mr. Benton whether Entrust had been used by the City. Mr.
Benton said he had not used it, but he would look into that product. Mr. O'Neill stated this
is the one product that he found that was touted to be the least harmful. He stated he
had investigated some other ones, and he had sent the information on those to Ms.
Haigler.
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Mr. O'Neill stated that Borax was another product that was mentioned several times in his
research. Mr. Benton stated staff has not tested Borax, but it is something that can
definitely be looked into.
Mr. Benton emphasized that this committee is what is driving this project. He and Ms.
Haigler want all the input that is possible but emphasized that the magnitude of the area
that has to be maintained must be considered. Ms. Haigler stated that the City Manager
pointed out there may be unintended consequences of testing some of these methods.
Mr. O'Neill stated he got an email from Dr. Josh King at the Biology Department of UCF.
He would like to have a conversation with Mr. O'Neill regarding fire ants.
Mole Crickets -- Mr. Carrano stated the committee had seen examples of mole crickets
when they visited two of the athletic fields. From what he has read, mole crickets are
easy to kill with insecticides. Biological control is a bit more "iffy." There is a nematode
and there is a Larra bicolor wasp which also targets only mole crickets. Indian River
County was one of the counties where the wasps/files were used. It is believed that these
wasps/flies are present, but what is needed is to attract them. They are nectar eaters, so
something like a butterfly garden should attract them. Their life cycle ends in the mole
cricket. The female injects the eggs into the mole cricket, and that's how the mole crickets
die. He stated there is a product called NEMATECH S which can be spread in different
areas, and it only attacks mole crickets. Mr. Benton stated he had done some research
on that product, and it was his understanding that it was not as successful as they thought
it was. The manufacturer of the product no longer offers it.
Mr. Benton made the suggestion to build a type of garden to attract the wasps/flies. He
queried whether this is something that will work now or is it something that could be put
in now in order to manage the mole crickets in the future in a proactive manner. Mr.
Carrano stated that by the time everything was put in place, it may be too late to be
effective this year.
Dr. Cox -- Sod webworms. As Dr. Cox was excused from this meeting, Mr. Benton
reviewed the information Dr. Cox had sent in. Basically, several species of sod webworm
commonly infest home lawns. The most severe damage usually occurs in July and
August. They are larvae of lawn moths. Mr. Benton described that staff identifies them
with a soap mixture that is applied, and the sod webworms will come right to the top of
the ground. Mole crickets will do the same thing. Healthy turf grass, proper fertilization,
and irrigation can decrease the susceptibility of turf grass against the webworrn.
However, excessive fertilization is a leading cause of caterpillar outbreaks in lawns. For
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biological control, there is a nematode that has been successfully tested against sod
webwonns in Florida. Mr. Benton will have Dr. Cox look into that and see if it's available
to purchase. There is also a bacterial -based insecticide. Spinosad may help control
without impacting beneficial species.
Mr. Benton read from Dr. Cox's notes. The important question is whether integrated pest
management works on this pest. Despite the economic importance of the sod webworms,
there has been little information on integrated pest management programs for this pest.
Several insecticides may be used to control this pest, but appropriate timing, risk of
resistance, and non -target aspects need to be considered. Finding larvae with soap
flushes, especially if moths were previously seen, and spot treatment of infested areas
are recommended. Current control recommendations are mainly application of above-
ground chemical insecticides against larval stages. Control should be aimed at damaging
larvae, not the flying moths. At least 10 chemical compounds are currently registered for
control of lawn caterpillars, including sod webwonns, in North America. Directions for
applying these products comes from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln Institute of
Agricultural and Natural Resources, Department of Entomology.
Crabgrass -- Ms. Brothers stated that crabgrass is an issue in the ball fields, not so
much an issue in the non -athletic parks. The main cultural practice is already in place,
which is to keep it mowed at whatever height is needed for the Bermuda grass, removing
the clippings when the seed heads are present, and making sure the Bermuda grass is
thriving, so the crabgrass doesn'ttake over. She said there is a long list of chemicals
listed on the IFAS site that she still needs to research further. She inquired if there is a
website where the costs of different products can be compared. Mr. Benton stated
anything that any member finds that they want costs for, send it to staff, and he can get
a cost estimate from the company that the City uses. Ms. Haigler stated she could set up
a spreadsheet template to help list the products, what chemicals are used, how they work,
cost, etc.
Mr. Carrano mentioned that Florida has a very high ground water table in most areas,
and so most things put into the ground leaches into the water.
Mr. Benton asked whether anyone looked into the products the City uses currently to form
an opinion as to whether we should absolutely not use those products. No one has done
that yet. Mr. Benton asked that the members look at all the MSDS sheets that he sent
out and provide input on those.
Hearing no further questions or comments from the committee, Mr. Benton opened the
meeting up for public input regarding the four pests that have been discussed.
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Andrea Ring inquired about the fire ant situation at Friendship Park. Mr. Benton
stated there is still a problem. It is not at the magnitude that it was previously. At
this point some spot treatment can be done on the hills. He still wants to give it a
little more time for what was applied the first time to allow it to run its course. He
estimates that since the treatment was done the ant hills have been reduced by
about 80 per cent. That was using Advion. Ms. Ring asked if the hot water could
be used, because it does work. If it is necessary to buy a machine to produce the
hot water and spray it properly, she thinks that would be the way to go. But it is
necessary to know if it's going to work.
Mr. Benton stated there are some issues with that. How do we get the water hot
and keep it hot and get it out there? Mr. Benton stated the machine costs money.
Staff can wait for some feedback and see what kind of results those people are
getting. Let them do the testing. They have the funds. If Sebastian gets positive
results from that, then City staff will make an effort to do the same tests, or
something similar. He reminded everyone that with the number of parks in the
City, it would involve a lot of time. Ms. Haigler stated the large park areas are 280
acres, the sports complex alone is 22 acres. The City grounds are 8 acres, and
the medians and walkways are 5 miles. Mr. Benton stated that everywhere across
the City there are ants, and there is not one employee designated to strictly treat
the ant problem. He further asked, if the hot water machine works, how will the
City be able to use that method and use it efficiently. Dedicating one employee to
go around and treat ants is going to be labor intensive as well as costly, where
there might be another method that does something different with less manpower
and time involved.
Ms. Haigler stated that there are costs involved with whatever method is chosen, and the
funds to do it have a limit. Going forward there is also going to be a project to treat the
waterways, and that is going to be very expensive. So there needs to be a balance.
Mr. O'Neill inquired about the budget. Mr. Benton stated that roughly what is budgeted
for all the services which maintain the parks, city grounds, etc. to cover pests, fertilization,
and chemicals, including the splashpad, totals approximately $13,000.00.
VI. Old Business — None
VII. Items for Next Aaenda
A. Each sub -committee member presents IPM research on assigned
pests for discussion and adoption into IPM Plan
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The following were assigned for research to present at the next meeting of the sub-
committee:
Mr. O'Neill —grubs
Mr. Carrano — moles
Ms. Brothers — dollar weed
Dr. Cox — broad leaf weeds
The following were assigned to research the balance of the items to present the research
at meetings going forward:
Mr. O'Neill —
goose grass
torpedo grass
Mr. Carrano -•
sedge grass
pennywort
Ms. Brothers ••
Japanese beetles
brown patch fungus
Dr. Cox -•
signal grass
mice
Mr. Benton stated at the next meeting the projector will be set up. He and the members
of the committee thanked Ms. Haigler for all her hard work on this project.
Mr. Benton further stated that the information that is gathered at these meetings will be
put into a written plan, and he wants 100 percent agreement on what is presented to City
Council.
Vlll. Adiournment
There being no further business, Mr. Benton adjourned the meeting at 4:15 p.m
By: Date: 6/ll l�2 o dO
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