OLMOS PARK – A week after the City of Olmos Park said it would not spray for mosquitoes, early Friday morning the city did just the opposite.
Last week, City Manager Mike Simpson said he was reluctant to spray because of respiratory health concerns raised by some residents.
Resident Patrick Simpson said, "Being an ex-smoker I'm concerned about the things I breath in."
For the past four years, in lieu of spraying, when it rains Olmos Park has put larvicide granules down the city’s storm drains.
However, that method has not been very effective this summer since it hasn’t rained in the city for the past 30 days.
Simpson said what ultimately forced his hand was the spraying the City of Alamo Heights did last week.
The two cities share the Olmos Basin, so Simpson said he was concerned the spraying by Alamo Heights pushed the mosquitoes to his side of the basin.
"I thought it would probably be prudent for us to spray now," said Simpson.
While some residents opposed the spraying, 71-year-old Bob Schumacher said with the threat of the West Nile virus it needed to be done.
"I had a friend in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area that got it, and she was paralyzed for two years,” he said, “It's been five years and she's still not totally recovered. It's a very serious thing."
The city has no plans to extend the spraying beyond the wooded Olmos Basin Park to the residential neighborhood, but Simpson wouldn’t rule-out the possibility.
