Torrance May Join District Mosquito Program : Pest control: The Public Safety Committee recommends that the city give up its solo battle and become part of the regional abatement effort.

Torrance is about ready to give up its solo fight against mosquitoes.

The Torrance City Council’s Public Safety Committee this week recommended that the city end its own mosquito-control program and join the regional program of the Los Angeles County West Mosquito Abatement District. The council will consider the matter next week and is expected to accept the committee’s recommendation, officials said.

“It’s time for the city to join the district abatement program,” said Councilman Dan Walker, a member of the committee. “It’s something we should have done awhile back.”

In October, district mosquito hunters discovered several encephalitis-carrying mosquitoes near Mobil Oil Corp. in Torrance, providing ammunition for critics of the city’s program. Encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, is contagious.

Although state health officials said there was no cause for panic, state, county and city officials expressed concern about the effectiveness of the city’s mosquito-control efforts.

Since the early 1960s, the city’s mosquito-control program has been run by a single city worker who sprays insecticides in areas prone to infestation. The worker also stocks ponds and streams with mosquito-eating fish.

Although the district has repeatedly asked the city to join its program, city officials declined, saying it would be too expensive and that the city would give up local control.

City Councilman Tim Mock, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said he warned city officials before the discovery of the disease-laden insects that the abatement program was not meeting state standards. Moreover, the city program was hampered by serious restrictions, particularly the lack of authority to spray or set traps on private property, he said.

After finding about five insects with the virus, district officials became concerned that “the problem they saw in Torrance was impacting upon their district because the little critters fly around,” Mock said.

“They felt that we were not doing the job,” Mock said, “specifically in the area of private property, and they specifically mentioned Mobil.”

The Los Angeles West Mosquito Abatement District, formed more than 40 years ago, now represents 22 cities. Among the 85 cities in Los Angeles County, only Torrance and four other cities do not belong to mosquito abatement districts. In the area covered by the West District, Torrance is the only city that has its own program.

For years, West District officials have urged Torrance officials to “upgrade your act or join us,” Mock said. The city’s program costs $65,000 a year, but an expenditure of $190,000 a year would be necessary to bring the program up to state standards, he said.

Kathy Keane, assistant to the city manager, said budgetary constraints shaped the committee’s recommendation. “We’d like to keep the program in-house, but we just don’t have the money,” she said.

If the City Council decides to join the district, it will be required to assess an annual tax of $2.89 on each parcel of residential and commercial property, for a total of $111,216, according to a report prepared for the Public Safety Committee.

Parcels that require more attention, such as the area around Mobil’s refineries, will possibly be assessed a higher rate by the district, Mock said.

Additional costs of between $12,000 to $23,000 would be covered by either funds from the city’s property tax revenues or a service charge to the Mobil Oil Corp., Keane said.

If the council decides to join the district, it would take about six months to complete the membership process, Mock said. In the meantime, the council could contract with the district to provide the necessary services.

Torrance’s lone mosquito fighter would be reassigned to tree-trimming duties, said Richard Garcia, superintendent of the Street Maintenance Department, which has run the city’s mosquito program.