The Cambridge City Council labored through its first meeting of its fall term Monday, tackling a range of issues from the West Nile virus to citywide rezoning to town-gown relations.

In the four-and-a-half hour meeting, the council set aside unfinished business from last spring and concentrated instead on issues that arose during the summer.

During the public comment period, a few residents raised concerns about the city's recent insecticide spraying to combat the West Nile virus. The disease was found in seven birds in Cambridge during the summer, leading the city to spray for mosquitoes over wide areas including Harvard Square on Aug. 30.

But several councilors and residents said the spraying might have been an overly drastic measure.

"Widespread spraying for mosquitoes is like trying to kill an ant with an AK-47," said one resident who spoke about the possible dangers of Resmethrin, the chemical used for the spraying.

"As a layperson, it appears to me that the relative response has far exceeded the need," said councilor Jim Braude, who sponsored an order requesting a report on whether the spraying was needed.

In a recent report on the spraying, the city's public health department said Resmethrin is "not considered dangerous to humans or pets at the very low levels being applied" but that "certain precautions are recommended to protect people with respiratory problems."

Councilor Marjorie C. Decker said that the many residents who have called her have been more concerned about the spraying than the virus itself.