By Chelsea McNerney-Martinez
MONTE VISTA— Monte Vista City Council met last Thursday for their second June meeting. They approved a contract for removal of pigeons and their waste from city hall.  
Gerrod Walker of When Nature Calls Pest Control Inc. based out of Florissant, Colo. presented a bid to address the issue of removing and excluding pigeons within/around the city hall structure. Walker stated his inspection found about 50 entry and exit points being used by pigeons, starlings and sparrows in the city hall building primarily on the east/police department side, as well as evidence of raptors like owls also using the openings to feed on the smaller birds. Based on the number of birds and amount of droppings, Walker estimated the infestation has been an issue for at least three years, possibly up to 10 years.
Walker proposed killing the eggs and small birds and using lethal traps to catch and kill the adult birds in the building, then building custom metal pieces to fit in the holes the birds are using to prevent reentry. Removal of the droppings and dead birds would be done by another company, Whitmore Pest Control, out of Sedalia, Colo. That business has the appropriate hazardous waste experience and equipment to remove the droppings and minimize exposure of staff to the bacteria. One major concern with the bird droppings that are over three years old is histoplasmosis, Walker explained. He stated because there aren’t droppings around the fresh air intakes in the building that isn’t a great concern but the droppings around the boiler areas are a potential health issue.
Councilor Gary Johnson asked if the birds that were not killed in the initial removal were homing pigeons and would keep trying to return to the space. Walker explained any pigeon will not travel far from their home area and they will likely continue to live in the area and likely hang out on the roof of City Hall, but the exclusion should prevent their entry into the building. Councilor Victor Sigala asked how long the process would take, with Walker answering he wasn’t sure because each metal piece would have to be custom made for each entry hole.
Before council approved the contract, City Manager Forrest Neuerburg explained in some spots the building has three roofs built over one another and multiple drain pipes creating the potential for the bird infestation. Neuerburg explained he has tried over the last two years to find contractors willing to address the issues but local ones don’t handle birds and the front range contractors were too busy there to want to travel this far. “The cost is a little daunting but the health and safety of our employees is important” he added, explaining how the police department has brought up the odor and other issues caused by the birds many times.
Mayor Dale Becker also pointed out the owner of Whitmore Pest Control went with Lowell Bolt of the Public Works Department to analyze the slide at the Ski-Hi Pool, which was going to be removed and donated to another community. The condition of the slide, due to bird droppings is so dire the company declined to present a bid. Becker explained to his estimation there are four to five inches of bird droppings and about 100 dead birds on the slide, and the process would require removing the slide in pieces, laying the pieces out on tarps and having the waste removed by a company certified for hazardous materials which would be roughly twice the cost of a new slide.
The bid for When Nature Calls Pest Control, for the removal and exclusion of the birds, including a chimney cap, was $11,890. Whitmore Pest Control’s cost, which included “remove accessible dead pigeons, remove accessible pigeon nesting material, remove accessible pigeon droppings, clean and disinfect old skylight from attic space, clean and disinfect exterior surfaces of a/c unit in attic, two pest/bird mite pesticide applications (one prior to cleanout and one after completion), one application of disinfectant/sanitizer after pigeon debris cleanout and one application of kilz stain and odor control on attic floor and affected areas” for 20,000 square feet was $49,250. Neuerburg stated the General Fund is in good financial shape and the city could afford the cost, with both bids being approved unanimously.
Councilor Kathy Lorenz added the caveat that the waste removal work not be done around city staff for safety reasons, and Neuerburg stated their goal is to work on weekends when MVPD could more easily work out of the east side of the building.