Council approves pilot purchase of two autonomous mowers for parks department

The Mobile City Council approved a purchase order to Groundworks Distribution for two autonomous mowers, a pilot purchase intended to evaluate whether the equipment should be added to the Parks Department fleet.

Shonda, a parks department staff member, told the council, "So this is our first time trying them. Dan Otto, who's our park maintenance supervisor, superintendent went out and saw they brought example to try them out, so we can see them. So we're purchasing 2 to see how they work. I don't think we have a direct where they will go, so we're trying to see how it would work for us, and see if that's something we want to add into more into our fleet for the mowing side and for park maintenance. So this is more of a pilot program to see if this is worth bringing more into our fleet."

A council member asked whether the city had used autonomous mowers before and where they would be located; staff said units would be deployed in locations where they can be "overwatched or seen so they don't get stolen," which "probably limits the areas where they can be." Staff also noted the units could be used for edging and that other municipalities, such as Montgomery, have tried similar equipment.

The item was presented as a purchase order to Groundworks Distribution for two units priced at $85,427.16. Staff described this as a trial purchase and said the department will evaluate theft risk, effectiveness and site suitability before considering additional purchases and broader deployment.