Spray plane scares locals

Sumter County Times - October 11, 2001

By MARTIN STEELE

Residents of some Lake Panasoffkee neighborhoods who were alarmed last week by a low flying airplane may soon welcome the return of the aircraft.

County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to pay Orth Aero Services Inc. up to $15,000 to spray pesticides for mosquitoes in some areas of the county. County officials plan to target most of the populated areas of the county and prime mosquito-producing areas.

Officials are anticipating start up of the aerial spraying about Monday or Tuesday.

County Commissioner Joey Chandler said the aircraft - a single engine, low-wing model, white with blue striping along the fuselage - would be noticed because it’s engine is very loud. The plane will also be flying at very low altitude.

Friday, the aircraft caught the attention of many Lake Panasoffkee residents. Chandler said he began getting telephone calls about the plane about 8 a.m. and it was some time before officials could determine that it was a legally operated aircraft.

With reports of terrorist attempting to buy spray planes in south Florida in recent months, some residents were fearful that the county was under attack.

“People were ready to shoot it down,” Chandler said.

What frightened residents were actually practice flights of the airplane over the lake. The crop-spraying airplane was being flown out of the Citrus County airport, Inverness, by Robert Orth. His business, based in Vero Beach, is involved in assisting mosquito control spraying in Citrus County, according Sumter Public Works Director Garry Breeden.

With continued concerns about public health and the threat of mosquito born disease like the West Nile Virus, Breeden said the next step for the county would be to go to aerial application of pesticides for the mosquitoes.

Aerial spraying would allow for more direct coverage of pesticides on selected targets, Breeden said. And, it would help provide faster coverage than the ground-based trucks.

The project will typically cost the county from $1 to $1.25 per acre, depending on the chemical used, he said. The material could range from simple Malathion to more exotic pesticides.

“Generally, the more effective they are the more they costs,” Breeden said.

Orth, who attended the commission meeting, said that the spraying would usually be done in the early morning or late evening. He also suggested that commissioners publicize the project to help avoid any potential panic among residents in the target areas.

According to Breeden, the aerial applications may include spraying of the Sumter County side of the Withlacoochee River corridor from about Tarrytown to Rutland.

In other business: < During the second public hearing on the issue, Commissioners approved ordinance creating new types of land use designations.

The action allows for the construction of planned unit developments for recreational vehicles and the land use designations of planned commercial and planned industrial.

The new classifications are anticipated to give officials some additional development controls.

Commissioners plan to discuss with consultants the feasibility study that’s underway on possible impact fees for county roads during a workshop meeting at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 17, in the commission meeting room.

The board also set a workshop for 6:30 p.m., Nov. 12, at the Oxford Community Center to hear a presentation on the results of a survey conducted of property owners in the “Oxford Corridor” corridor along US 301. The county is participating in a joint project to help coordinated planning for the expected rapid development along the highway.

At the request of Commissioner Benny Strickland, the board has set a public hearing at 6:30 p.m., Oct. 23, to consider an ordinance that would prohibit airboat operation on Lake Okahumpka from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m.

Strickland said residents of the Continental Country Club community were complaining about the nighttime noise from airboats.

He wasn’t very receptive to Chandler’s suggestion that the night time limit should be midnight.

“Some of them are in bed at 9 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. - they think it should be cut off at 9 p.m.,” Strickland said.