City Council OKs pilot project to attack rat infestation in LaSalle

Oct. 6—The Niagara Falls City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve a "pilot project" aimed at controlling a rat infestation in the LaSalle neighborhood.

The council approved an almost $65,000 contract with Orkin LLC for a program to exterminate the rats living between 56th and 60th streets along Buffalo Avenue. The project is being paid for with funds from the city's casino revenue account.

Mayor Robert Restaino said he proposed the project to members of the council after being inundated by complaints from residents.

"I was outraged by the things I saw," the mayor said, "I told my team, 'We need to do something. These people need relief.' "

The mayor noted that the project is "a test case" and that the Falls has "pest problems throughout the city."

Orkin, described by city officials as "a nationally known leader in pest control services", will investigate the rat infestation problem and set traps throughout the affected area. The one-year contract calls for Orkin to check the traps twice a month for the first two months of the agreement and then once a month for the remaining 10 months.

Restaino said residents in the pilot project area could receive two or three traps each in their backyards. In order to participate in the program, residents will be required to sign consent forms to allow Orkin to access their property.

The mayor stressed that the project "will lead to control, but not extermination" of the rat infestation.

If the project is successful, Restaino said there have been discussions of expanding it to other areas. However, Restaino also said Orkin has estimated that the cost of a citywide rat infestation cleanup could top $1.3 million.

Council Member Donta Myles said he would be looking to see what the city's response to other neighborhoods, that are plagued by skunks, raccoons and possums, might be.

"I want us to keep the same energy when other parts of the city reach out," Myles said.

The city unveiled the project to residents living in the affected area at a community meeting last week. Restaino and a representative of Orkin spoke to a group of between 70 and 80 neighbors and explained that the project is unique.

"The Orkin representative made clear that (controlling the rat infestation) is not a city responsibility," the mayor said. "In fact, he said some of his supervisors were wondering why the city is picking up the tab."

But Restaino said, with funding available, he believes the pilot program is the best first step to controlling the rat problem.

At the council meeting, the mayor repeated that Orkin representatives have said that local residents will have to make some short term sacrifices to help control the rat problem.

"There are going to be some things that (homeowners) have to do to address the pest problem," Restaino said. "Usually there are human issues (around a rat problem), like gardens and getting garbage in totes and not having stacks of tires on properties."

The mayor also said that the city Departments of Public Works and Code Enforcement will step up monitoring in the pilot project area for violations of city codes.

Some neighbors have voiced concerns that the rat infestation can be traced to the nearby Covanta energy from waste facility.

"I told them to put their complaints in writing and send them to me," Restaino said, "then we can go to (New York state) and possibly get them involved. I can tell the state that the residents are claiming an (environmental) impact from Covanta."

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has some regulatory control over the operations of the Covanta facility. Covanta has told the city that it has "an aggressive pest control program."