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Mosquito Plane Gets OK To Fly

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The Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: May 24, 2008

SARASOTA COUNTY - The county's pest control airplane was grounded Friday because of a change in Federal Aviation Administration regulations, a move that county officials said came at a bad time, as recent rains made it likely the local mosquito population would boom.
Sarasota County Administrator Jim Ley fired off an e-mail calling the federal government an "astoundingly immobile beast" and claiming the county was the victim of "the insanity of this bureaucracy."

However, before the feud got into the second round, the federal government proved it could move pretty fast after all.

Earlier in the day, the FAA had informed the county its annual plan for pesticide spraying had not been approved.

By late Friday afternoon, Ley said an FAA official called to say there had been a misunderstanding and the county's plan had been approved after all.
Mosquitoes can multiply quickly after a rain because they breed in standing water. The county did little spraying last year because conditions were dry.

Before the FAA stepped in, the county had planned to begin spraying sometime in the next few days, depending on when more rain fell.

The problem arose because the FAA reinterpreted its rules regarding pesticide spraying and decided to require the county get approvals from its four cities before it starts spraying this season.

Without those approvals, the agency had declined to issue what is called a congested area plan to the county.

The county has sprayed for mosquitoes since 1947, and this extra level of approval from the cities had never been required before. Except for areas of North Port, spraying pesticides by airplane is done only east of Interstate 75 and only at night, Ley said.

The county spends about $3 million a year on mosquito control. Most of that money comes from property taxes. The owner of a $200,000 home typically pays about $10 a year in taxes for the service.

Anyone who wants to be notified by either phone or e-mail that Sarasota County will be spraying in their area can call (941) 861-5000 and ask to be put on the notification list.

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