Lehigh County Director of General Services Rick Molchany told county commissioners the county would not continue to spray private property for gypsy moth infestation. Beginning in 2017, the county will pay for a private coordinator to assist residents who need it.

Molchangy addressed the commissioners at their Dec. 14 meeting.

A letter sent Oct. 7 to residents by the county and by Lehigh County Penn State Extension, the county’s control vendor, stated the county is not paying for control services but “will be offering support to connect residents with private applicators.”

The letter also stated a naturally occurring pesticide called BT(k) “will not be the most effective treatment option moving into 2016-2017” and a private applicator would be more effective.

According to Molchany, during the Dec. 14 general services meeting, around $60,000 will be used to fund the use of a private coordinator.

County Commissioner Thomas Creighton said $112,500 was budgeted for gypsy moth spraying in 2017.

“I was under the impression it was going to be used for the same process as it was in 2016,” Creighton said. “I’m disappointed the administration waited until the last minute and did not tell the commissioners.”

Creighton said residents reported positive results from the spraying done in 2016.

“I would like to see the same program in 2016 be done in 2017,” Creighton said, responding to the decision to only use a private coordinator.

He asked who made the decision to end county spraying.

“I made the decision,” Molchany said. “The administration of the County of Lehigh made the decision without the support of Gary Day and Julie Harhart to cease paying for the spray blocks,” he said, mentioning two state representatives that represent areas of the county.

“We asked them to engage in a discussion with us to control gypsy moth and they didn’t,” Molchany said.

Creighton, wearing his hat as legislative aide to Day, spoke with The Press Dec. 20.

“To my knowledge, there never was a request for state Rep. Day to talk about the gypsy moth issue,” Creighton said.

Molchany said that as of now there is no regional or state plan for controlling the gypsy moth population.

“The reality is what needs to happen here, starting today, is we need to figure out a plan,” Molchany said. “The plan needs to include coordination from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

“It baffles me how we can be talking about this without talking about a regional solution to it,” said Commissioner Percy Dougherty. “It just doesn’t make any sense unless we have a regional plan.”

This year, four remaining counties - Lehigh, Lackawanna, Dauphin and Northampton - continued to attempt to control gypsy moths.

A budget was made to pay for a control coordinator and control spray for 1,000 acres of county property, including Trexler Nature Preserve and Leaser Lake, using BT(k).

In 2016, Lehigh County used funds to spray private properties but did not have enough in the budget to spray county-owned property.

Some county residents did not approve of spraying and refused it for gypsy moths on their property.

According to Molchany, one of the difficulties in controlling gypsy moths lies in the absence of a regional plan. Last year, 20 counties attempted to control the moth population through different plans.

Molchany said the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources reported the previous year’s project did not meet standards for control and recommended a stronger spray known as Mimic.

DCNR reportedly refused to spray Mimic on wooded areas and recommended counties make use of private vendors to apply spraying to private properties.

Slatington resident Jeff Kunkle voiced his concerns on the gypsy moths and asked commissioners to take action.

“We were promised we were going to get sprayed,” Kunkle said. “Until you go through a devastation, you think that it’s pleasant.

“You cannot go out of your house. You can’t continue your life.”

Kunkle said he had to remove 12 oak trees as a result of the gypsy moths, saying it cost around $2,800 to have them removed.

“It seems like Northern Lehigh gets no love from this county even though we pay our taxes,” Kunkle said. “It’s about time [the county] helps us at least coordinate and give us some hope.

“I have two-and-a-half acres that will be dead,” he said. “It will be firewood.”