County seeks bids for drone services
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POLSON – Lake County will soon request bids for drone services.
The county commissioners announced that they would seek the bids following a hearing on April 12.
Commissioner Bill Barron said the county could use drones for search and rescue operations, which it has used a private contractor for in the past. The county’s Geographic Information Systems and environmental health departments could use drones for mapping addresses and drain fields, he said. The roads department and sheriff’s office also might use them.
The county itself can’t operate drones due to new rules from the Federal Aviation Administration, Barron said.
“We will contract with licensed people,” he said, adding that the regulations require a drone operator have a pilot’s license.
“We feel it’s important to have this service and provide it, but we have to make sure it’s legal,” he said.
Barron said the county previously used a man from the Finley Point/Yellow Bay Fire Department who was licensed.
Barron noted that any contractor would have to have his own liability insurance.
