LYNN — The city’s Inspectional Services Department (ISD) held a meeting to discuss the rodent problem in the Pickering and Oakville neighborhoods.
“We did launch an initial pilot program last year in two other areas of the city…to try and to get an idea of what kind of rodent abataemtn works, what efforts we should really focus on, and how we can measure metrics for success,” Administrative Director of the ISD Zosia VanMeter said.
Brochures at the meeting outlined how residents may combat rodents, outlining five steps to take: look for evidence, clean up, starve them, shut them out, and wipe them out.
“The success of this program will rely greatly on the cooperation and participation of the neighborhood,” VanMeter said.
Officials from the ISD additionally brought a printed presentation, which outlined details of the new pilot program.
The print-out stated that the rollout will begin with neighborhood cooperation. Residents will be asked to sign requested release waivers for boxes to be placed on their properties, and to allow enforcement officers to walk onto properties to monitor the progress of the boxes.
Monitoring of these boxes will occur on a weekly basis, in order to determine feeding activity at each of the boxes.
During the enforcement period the ISD will have inspectors determining violations which might exist, such as broken barrels and trash, issuing tickets or orders where necessary.
The ISD will have a neighborhood education effort, hosting meetings and dispersing information on how to best keep the rodents at bay.
The ISD will additionally work alongside the DPW, scheduling time for residents to have barrels repaired.
The program is estimated to cost approximately $40,000 for both the Pickering and Oakville neighborhoods, and is expected to run for six months.
The program will have a three-pronged approach to dealing with the rodents, with bait and birth control boxes, C02-powered smart boxes which will be placed in the sewers, and through resident property maintenance via resident participation.
The criteria for the programs’ success is three-fold: a decline in resident complaints, a decline in active feeding, and a decline in smart box catches.
Resident Lisa Sheppard was curious if the traps that will be used can harm animals in the environment, “We have rabbits in the yard that have always been there, squirrels, obviously, people’s personal pets…”
VanMeter said that if an animal consumes one of the baited traps, they may get sick.
“So, honestly, it’s poison. The most simple answer is yes,” VanMeter said. “The pilot program that we’ve offered in the past, depending on everybody’s individual living situation…you don’t have to necessarily have the rodenticide, you could do vermin control, you could do a snap box,” VanMeter said.
The program is expected to begin September 1, running through spring 2025, during which time the collected data will be interpreted, after which, next steps will be determined.
Resident Glenn George said that he feels that the pilot program is reactive instead of proactive.
“It’s not being proactive in my mind, now, we’re trying to react to what’s happened, rather than staying on top of it,” George said.
VanMeter said that the proactive approach was in the Integrated Pest Management plan (IPM), which she said is required documentation which must be provided to the city prior to any groundbreaking project which outlines how rodents will be dealt with.
“Obviously, their measures weren’t enough, but there were preventative measures taken — they just weren’t sufficient,” VanMeter said.
Residents are urged to report rodent sightings at 781-598-4000, or via email at isd@[email protected]
