- November 16, 2024
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The East Flagler Mosquito Control District is planning a new, $1,868,900 facility at the Flagler Executive Airport.
The new facility will let the Mosquito Control District — which stretches from Palm Coast and Bunnell to Marineland and Flagler Beach — house its aerial spraying helicopter and other aerial operations equipment and staff in one location, according to an East Flagler Mosquito Control District news release. As things are, the helicopter and a lab have been housed at the airport while the staff are at the East Flagler Mosquito Control District headquarters on Utility Drive in Palm Coast, seven miles away.
The East Flagler Mosquito Control District board voted June 22 to approve a bid to build the new facility. The old one will be sold, possibly to the city of Palm Coast, which has utility offices next door.
“We’ve been planning and budgeting for this project for years and the money exists for it outright,” East Flagler Mosquito Control District Director Joe Cash said in the news release.
The groundbreaking on the new facility is planned for about two months in the future, and construction is expected to be completed within 140 days, East Flagler Mosquito Control District Operations Manager Mark Positano said.
Much of the Mosquito Control District’s operations have been conducted by air over the past 20 years. The helicopter treats large areas of air and salt marsh to prevent hordes from forming. The district also uses spray trucks on the roads in the evening.
The East Flagler Mosquito Control District has warned residents to practice the “three D’s of mosquito prevention”: Drain out water containers at least once a week, dress in long sleeves and long pants and light-colored, loose-fitting clothing, and defend by wearing repellent including DEET, picaridin, IR3535 or oil of lemon-eucalyptus.
