Correction: Council member Daniel VandenHeede voted not to approve the drone. This story has been updated.

Since 2017, drones have given city utility employees the tools to complete jobs that might otherwise have been impossible or far more arduous if not for the equipment.

The City of Niles has four drones, and is about to add a fifth to its fleet, after receiving 7-1 approval from members of the city council on Oct. 23. Council approved a bid of $40,182.18 for the Unmanned Aircraft System from Mishigami Group Inc.

Jeff Dunlap, the utilities manager for the city, expects the drone to be well worth its price tag in the years to come. The drone is expected to arrive before next year and features the ability to fly in mist, rain and snow, a thermal imaging camera, ideal for inspection utility equipment, as well as a camera that swivels while the drone remains stationary. The funds to purchase the drone came from out of the utilities’ budget.

The city’s current drone fleet includes two Phantoms and two Mavics brands. The Phantoms cost about $2,000 a piece and the Mavics cost $1,000 a piece. 

The cameras in the existing drones are pretty limited in their scope range and can only swivel down so that the drone must always be positioned above the item that is needed to be captured. They are also sensitive to cold temperatures and cannot be piloted below 32 degrees.

Dunlap said that the drones are primarily used during inspections of utility equipment and city infrastructure. Often times the drones help to avoid putting workers in hazardous situations, such as inspecting the top of a roof or water tower. A pilot log shows that the drones are used about 10 times a month, temperatures permitting. They also cut down on the time needed to conduct the inspection.

“We can fly and see if equipment needs to be repaired or replaced or if vegetation needs to be trimmed,” Dunlap said.

When the tornado struck on Feb. 28, researchers from the National Weather Service asked the city to capture the damage with the drones. The images the drone took were able to prove that a tornado had occurred, based upon the scattered way that the trees fell.

The drones also helped to capture the city of Niles aptly for the city website.

Dunlap said the new drone’s thermal imaging technology will allow the utility workers to gauge whether equipment is getting too hot. It will also have the camera technology to fly underneath bridges for inspections.

Because the drone can be utilized to scale trees or other fixtures for inspections and conduct thermal inspection of substations, Dunlap said the city will not have to budget contractors to do the work. Overall, Dunlap said he anticipates the drone being able to save the city between $20,000 to $26,000 a year.

“More importantly, this will offer a level of service and detail that we have not been able to obtain,” Dunlap said.

Dunlap said the city first began researching drone usage for the city in 2015, but it was not until 2017 that the drones arrived for usage. There are five pilots, including Dunlap, who are licensed by the Federal Aviation Association to pilot the machines. A test to renew licensing is required every two years. No additional employees were hired specifically to fly the drones. Instead, current city employees were trained to do the piloting.

Public works and the community development departments have utilized the drones. Law enforcement has also used the drones, specifically to surveil the scene of traffic accident. 

Dunlap said he foresees drones being kind of like an iPhone is to an average person.

“I think for utilities work it is going to be the thing of the future. It will be standard,”
Dunlap said.