Board accepts Vector Control District’s 2025 annual report and 2026 work plan

Amber Wimsatt, interim executive director of the Clackamas County Vector Control District, presented the district’s 2025 annual report and the proposed 2026 work plan, describing staffing, surveillance results, new source‑reduction efforts and preparedness measures.

Wimsatt said the district spent about $1,000,333 last year; employs four full‑time positions; conducted 5,765 larval and adult mosquito treatments; handled 499 citizen requests; and collected tens of thousands of larval and adult samples for laboratory testing. She reported that tests for West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis and Western equine encephalitis came back negative. Wimsatt described an invasive‑species concern (Aedes aegypti found in Southern Oregon) and a source‑reduction program that removed 378 tires from residents last year.

Commissioners asked for more budget detail and clarification about the 2026 spending horizon, timing of the September tire drive, the district’s threshold for treatments, and the use of gambusia (mosquito‑eating) fish in ornamental ponds. Wimsatt explained service‑request intake (website thefightthebites.com), thresholds for treatment, safeguards and an interagency agreement with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to prevent gambusia escaping to natural waterways.

Commissioner Hillman moved and Commissioner Savas seconded acceptance of the 2025 annual report and the 2026 work plan. The motion passed 3–0.