Although this is a lengthy email, we encourage you to read it all carefully because everyone must make a choice.
Here are the documents and instructions you will need to arrange an aerial spray of your property with Zimmer Air Services, Inc., and what you need to do if you are choosing not to spray. Attached are contract and waiver forms, and a map for you to identify your property to Zimmer.
If You Do Not Want to Spray
If you are choosing NOT to hire Zimmer to spray next spring, please complete and sign the attached waiver form and email it to jacqui.krech@gmail.com, or drop it in the mailbox at the back of the clubhouse by December 20th 2020.
We encourage you to tick the upper box, the “good neighbour” option, indicating you do not require a 20-meter buffer outside your property. Otherwise, many of your surrounding neighbours may not be able to spray their properties at all.
Please complete and send the form to Jacqui even if you cannot fill in the last statement.
Your personal information will be treated with the strictest confidence and will ONLY be shared with your immediate neighbours who require a waiver from you.
BTk, the biological insecticide being sprayed, uses a bacillus that occurs naturally in soil. It targets gypsy moths, is used in organic farming, and is safe for humans and wildlife. Lambton Public Health approves the use of BTk as a gypsy moth control measure.
If You Want to Spray
If you are choosing to have Zimmer spray your property next spring, Zimmer requires you to send them:
1.) a completed and signed contract (preferably with “Huron Woods” written in the upper left corner of the front page. This is already on the attached PDF.)
2.) completed and signed waivers from each of your abutting neighbours who are not spraying (If you cannot contact your neighbour, check with the Gypsy Moth Team. We may have received one from them.)
3.) a map indicating the location of your property.
NB. The contract requires your tax roll number. It can be found on your municipal tax invoice.
You can mail or fax the documents to Zimmer, or send digital versions (scanned, Word document or PDF) via email to info@zimmerair.com . Payment authorization forms will be sent out after you submit your contract, and payment will be processed between the first and second spraying next spring.
There is no guarantee Zimmer will be able to spray your property if you submit a contract and your adjoining neighbours do not respond or do not allow drift onto their property. Consequently, for those planning to spray, we advise working together with a string, group, or block of neighbours to coordinate efforts and to check with the gyspy moth team to see if we have received waivers from any of your abutting neighbours that you cannot contact.
Because Zimmer is experiencing a high demand this year and is already 50% booked, we recommend submitting your contracts ASAP, with January 15th 2021 as our deadline.
Once you have sent your contract to Zimmer, please send an email to jacqui.krech@gmail.com.
Please include:
- Your name
- Your Huron Woods address
- The address of any waivers you received and whether or not they allow drift
We will use this information to create one map indicating all the properties in Huron Woods to be sprayed and all the properties that allow or do not allow overspray. It will help us help your neighbours, and could assist us in approaching Zimmer to discuss the possibility of a discount if the number of people spraying in Huron Woods is high enough.
Some of you wishing to spray live next to undeveloped properties or ones where the neighbour is absent. If the property owner is a member of our association, we anticipate they will return their waiver form to us and we can share it with you. Please be aware that if they are not a member, we do not have a means of contacting them. If you wish to obtain a contact address for them, you will have to conduct a land registry search.
The more people who opt to spray, the more effective a control measure it will be to limit the gypsy moth infestation, avoid its spread, and make being outdoors bearable next summer. There may be differing opinions about the gypsy moth situation and how to handle it, and we urge everyone to treat each other with the respect and kindness Huron Woods is known for.
If there is anything you think we can help with, please contact us.
Gypsy Moth Outbreak Team
Jacqui Krech (jacqui.krech@gmail.com), Anne Thornton (anne@hay.net), Paul Mennill (pmennill@gmail.com), Angela Arenberg (arenberg.angela@gmail.com)
