County accepts Clackamas Vector Control 2024 report, approves 2025 work plan

The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 Feb. 25 to accept the Clackamas County Vector Control District's 2024 annual report and approve the district's 2025 annual work program. Commissioner Paul Savas moved to accept the documents and Commissioner Karen Schrader seconded the motion; the board recorded three affirmative votes and declared the motion passed.

Amber Wimsatt, interim executive director of the Clackamas County Vector Control District, presented the report and the proposed work plan. Wimsatt said the district's vision is "to progress, towards a future free of vector borne disease using all the scientific and educational tools available," and described a mission focused on managing public-health vectors in Clackamas County with an environmentally friendly approach. Chair Roberts told the presenters, "I think it's very important work that you do."

Why it matters: the district leads local surveillance and control activities for mosquitoes and other vectors that can transmit diseases such as West Nile virus and, potentially, viruses carried by invasive Aedes species. The board accepted the report to satisfy the statutory reporting requirement referenced in the presentation (RS 452.12) and to authorize the district's planned activities for 2025.

Key details from the presentation: the district reported budget expenditures described as "right around" $1,198,000 for 2024 and said it is in year one of a local-option levy. Wimsatt said the district currently lists three full-time positions, one seasonal assistant biologist and additional seasonal field technicians who generally start in April. The district reported about 20 vehicles (four described as equipped for spraying) and that it recently put four vehicles up for auction through the county. Staff reported roughly 539 citizen service requests in 2024 and 7,331 mosquito treatments (larval and adult). The district said it processed about 19,873 larval mosquito samples; the adult-sample figure in the presentation was unclear in the transcript and is not specified here.

Wimsatt described the West Nile virus ecology discussed in the presentation: birds are the amplifying hosts while humans and horses are dead-end hosts, and Culex species are the principal vectors detected in Oregon. She also reviewed two invasive Aedes species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, and told the board that those mosquitoes lay eggs in small water-holding containers and can pose public‑health risks because they can transmit viruses such as Zika and dengue. The district emphasized public education and source reduction (weekly dumping of standing water, clearing gutters, maintaining screens and using repellents) as primary prevention measures.

Funding and timing: Wimsatt said the district receives tax revenue under a statute referenced in the presentation as "ORS 452" and described two levies: a permanent levy at 0.0065 per $1,000 of assessed value and a local-option levy at 0.025 per $1,000 of assessed value. The presentation also included an expiration date for the local-option levy (stated in the presentation as "02/1930"); that date appeared inconsistent with the meeting context and is not verified in this article.

Board action and next steps: the board accepted the 2024 annual report and the 2025 work program as presented. No additional board direction or follow-up tasks were recorded during the discussion. Wimsatt indicated planned public-outreach activities (library and school programs) and a planned building remodel for 2025; the district said the remodel work will be funded in part from previously accumulated savings.

Ending: Commissioners thanked the district for its work and the meeting moved on to the next policy session. The board did not attach additional conditions to the approval during the Feb. 25 session.