Public commenter asks Des Moines County to add eagle-detection auto-shutdown technology to ordinance

During the public comment period of the Des Moines County Board of Supervisors meeting, resident Allison Morith urged the board to consider updating county ordinance to require or permit an automated shutdown system that detects bald eagles and pauses nearby operations to reduce eagle strikes.

Morith told supervisors she had emailed materials about the technology and said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has "recognized that as a valid solution for minimizing incident uptake of eagles," adding that the approach would be a mitigation measure beyond current practices. She asked whether the board would consider adding the technology to county ordinance.

The chair acknowledged receipt of the emailed materials and said he had read them. Morith also raised a separate question about bright-pink road markings and asked staff to check whether the markings were linked to utility-pole work, dust-control programs, or a rocking program.

The board did not take immediate action on either request during the meeting; the chair said he had read Morith's submissions and the matter was left as information for staff review. No ordinance language or formal referral appeared in the meeting transcript.

Public commenters' statements about federal recognition of technologies and regulatory options were presented as claims and supporting materials rather than formal legislative proposals. If the board directs staff to pursue an ordinance change, that would be a separate, formal agenda item requiring future review and a recorded action.