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Luzerne County property owners upset about high bills for state gypsy moth spraying should consider hiring their own private contractors, although there’s no guarantee the cost will be less than the state program, a state natural resources official said Wednesday.

“Aerial spraying is not cheap. The price of spraying and air fuel went up,” said Terry Brady, spokesman of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which oversees the state spraying program.

Several local property owners have complained about the amounts they must pay by Nov. 15 to participate in next year’s state spraying since the bills started arriving in the mail last week.

Plymouth Township property owner Ann Rish said Tuesday she can’t afford to participate because she owns 1 acre and was billed $797.50.

On Wednesday, Bear Creek Township resident Joe Yenchik said he and two of his children with residences on adjoining parcels were each billed $1,003.75 for the spraying of a combined 55 acres.

“The cost is prohibitive. It’s disappointing,” said Yenchik, 70.

Yenchik said he contacted a private contractor but does not know if it will be cheaper with added fees and sales tax. He said the contractor informed him many other counties absorb part or all of the cost to assist property owners and try to prevent the mass defoliation of trees in their jurisdictions.

“These government agencies are so out of touch. This is a program that should be funded by government because it’s an infestation. They’re just turning a deaf ear to this.”

Some citizens have urged Luzerne County officials to pick up the tab, but others said the county should not shoulder the expense of spraying private property.

Bills were sent last week to 1,281 property owners for the state-approved spraying of a combined 21,150 acres, officials said. At $55 per acre, the total cost would be $1.16 million.

Many bills are higher than anticipated because the state sets the spraying boundary lines and includes a 500-foot buffer around each residence that must be covered, said county staff engineer Keri Skvarla, who also is serving as the county’s gypsy moth coordinator.

As a result, property owners who applied for the program must pay for spraying of up to 23 acres — even if they own significantly less — if they want their land sprayed, Skvarla said. In cases where adjoining property owners with overlapping buffer zones applied for spraying, the cost for the entire group was equally divided among the participants, even if some own more land than others, she said.

Brady said the state requires 23 acres around each home to make the program cost efficient and manageable.

“We don’t have the ability to surgically spray small isolated pockets all over the place. We carefully implement grids,” Brady said, referring to an online bulletin about the program that says spray blocks “will not be custom designed to accommodate property boundary lines.”

Brady said his office has received “quite a few calls” with complaints about the billing, but phones were not “ringing off the hook” as they did during the gypsy moth outbreak last spring.

Egg masses indicate there will be a “severe” gypsy moth problem in the county next year if the spring is dry and warm, Brady said.

“I’d pray for a cold, wet spring,” he said.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes

[email protected]

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.