Bogalusa Director of Public Works James Hall issued a dire warning early this week and later made a request of the public.

During a City Council meeting Tuesday, Hall said his crews are gearing up for the mowing and mosquito spraying season.

The mosquitoes are a cause of particular concern. Some species carry the West Nile virus, which can be deadly, and the warm winter didn’t cut last year’s population.

“I want to talk about West Nile,” Hall said. “They’re predicting a terrible season. We need people to get rid of any standing water around their houses. A Coke bottle cap is enough for mosquitoes to breed in.

“It’s going to be serious this year, and these mosquitoes can cause death. Please. We need everybody to help us with this situation.”

On Wednesday, he made a somewhat less dramatic request.

Last month, in cooperation with the Keep Washington Parish Beautiful initiative, the city placed big dumpsters in four different locations around town and invited the public to clean their spaces and to fill the dumpsters with the trash.

There was such a great response the city decided to keep the dumpsters available for another month. They are located at the Avenue B Sports Complex, Bogalusa High School parking lot, the former Farmers’ Market site at East Fifth and Columbia streets, and across from Travis’ Grocery on Derbigney Street.

Hall’s request has to do with some of the refuse already collected that requires separation at the landfill.

“Please do not put tires in the dumpsters,” he said. “We’ll set up a time to collect tires this summer.”