TIFTON — Though the Tifton city council came to a decision on its mosquito control program, some local residents are still in staunch opposition.

Hoping to voice their continued concern over the city’s contract with Astro Exterminating, which has enlisted the exterminator to conduct monthly sprays in an effort to curtail the mosquito population, several members of the community took to the stand during the public hearing period of the April 21 city council meeting.

Council members had approved the program in a 3-2 split during their March meeting, having discussed the topic since early February and receiving protest primarily from Michelle Powers, a resident concerned about the potentially hazardous effects of the chemical sprays Astro planned on using, throughout the entire multi-month debate.

A handful of residents joined Powers in voicing their dissent this past Tuesday, pleading with the council to reconsider.

Faith Royal worried that the sprays would prove dangerous to the crops grown by farmers in the region and was unsure if they had been properly informed. She suggested that the city instead consider a safer BTI spray meant to target larval insects and, expressing frustration that she and many other residents had not been aware of the program being approved, requested that the council consider a mailing list for future decisions of this nature.

Kayla Janes echoed her concerns about the spray, a permethrin-based formula that targeted adult insects, noting that it had been identified as harmful to various wildlife, including several pollinators. She noted that the insecticide would kill any adult winged insect, which would include bugs like butterflies and bees, a situation made all the worse by the country’s declining pollinator rates.

Powers once again took to the podium, arguing that the spray could pose risks to both the wildlife and some people. She spoke on behalf of a woman with respiratory issues deeply concerned about the program and a man who had found several dead bees in his yard only a day after the spraying had been initiated.

She also expressed that she felt Astro had not followed proper rules and regulations when carrying out the spraying, reporting that she had witnessed them doing so during higher than regulation wind speeds and was unsure if they had placed signs during the process that indicated they were conducting a spray.

Powers requested that the city council revise their contract with Astro to use a safer alternative like the aforementioned BTI, as well as that they consider more regular notifications to inform citizens of upcoming sprays, as she felt the existing information regarding the program had been sparse.

Mayor Julie Smith noted that, as the council had already come to a decision on the matter, they could only reconsider their vote after one of the initial council members who had voted to approve the ordinance made a motion to reconsider. As she was unable to make a motion as per the city charter and council members Joshua Reynolds and Lester Cromer had voted in opposition, only councilmen M. Jay Hall and Michael Franks could put forward this proposal.

City attorney Rob Wilmot recommended that the city wait to discuss the item further at their next workshop meeting, but noted they could refuse to move forward with a reconsideration. In that event, Powers or any other resident would have the option to draft a petition to request the policy revision, needing 20% of the city’s registered voters in support to have it carried.