Utah County mosquito program pitches buying a drone and hiring a pilot to cut costs and reach hard-to-access breeding sites

Dan Miller, director of the Utah County Mosquito Abatement Division, told commissioners the division has used leased drones and contractors for several years and is proposing the county purchase a larger‑payload drone and fund a full‑time certified pilot to increase efficiency and control mosquito populations.

Miller said drone treatment sharply reduced labor time and increased coverage in pilot years, noting examples such as treating 1,600–1,700 acres in the most recent season versus hundreds previously. "If we use a drone, it takes about 8 minutes" to treat a 10‑acre area versus 10 hours by hand, he said, and described a case near Goshen Elementary where trap counts fell from nearly 4,600 to about 697 after targeted drone applications.

Miller provided preliminary cost figures: an estimated $60,000 purchase price for the drone, roughly $55,000 a year for a pilot plus benefits, and about $15,000 in annual maintenance, producing an estimated 10‑year gross cost of roughly $625,000. He said buying a drone rather than leasing could save taxpayers over a decade if the pilot and drone are shared by other departments. "The drone cost is 60,000 plus the pilot cost," Miller said.

Commissioners questioned the assumptions behind projected savings, including whether pilot salary could be offset when the pilot performs work for other departments and how inflation would affect staff‑cost savings. Miller said his projections were conservative and that sharing the pilot across departments such as GIS, IT or public works would magnify savings. Commissioners also raised operational questions about flight paths and whether drones would be flown over private residences; the response indicated treatments have focused up to property lines rather than directly over houses.

No formal procurement decision was made at the meeting; Miller said the staff aim is to include purchase and staffing in the next year’s budget and asked commissioners for preliminary guidance.