Health department updates board on Waltham’s rat mitigation strategy

Waltham’s Board of Health is the latest city entity to bring up the issue of rat mitigation.

At its Wednesday meeting, Michelle Feeley, the city’s public health director, answered questions about the City Council’s recent resolution about rat mitigation.

Feeley said the City Clerk’s Office asked her to compile rodent-related information, including the Health Department’s current rat and dumpster control measures, the money it has spent on rodent mitigation, the number of complaints it receives and ideas for future rat control measures. The City Clerk’s Office is seeking the information in advance of a City Council meeting in January, she added.

She said some trash control measures, such as installing rubbish bins and responding to trash violations on city streets and sidewalks, fall into the mandate of the Department of Consolidated Public Works, so she cannot make determinations on them.

Board chair Dr. Henry Merola asked if the Health Department saw less trash compliance at larger developments because of a “lessened sense of responsibility.” Feeley said that wasn’t the case; residents at large developments often follow designated trash protocols, and some of the most frequent offenders are small multifamily units with absentee landlords.

Feeley said that the department hasn’t received as many complaints this year as in previous years. However, she said rat complaints dominate the health inspectors’ time in some months, making it more difficult for them to cover other core responsibilities.

“Unfortunately, the city has rats. But we’re not the only city. Our neighboring cities have rats. They’re here. They’ve been here, they’re here now, they’re going to continue to be here when we’re all long gone,” she said.

Feeley added that the city and residents have to play equal roles in pest control.

“It’s not necessarily a rat problem, it’s a people problem. And the people problem is how people keep things in their yard,” she said. “We work really well with the restaurants, have them clean up their trash and [keep] their dumpsters a certain way, which is what we’re now trying to do with the public. But we have a public that says, ‘Oh, no, it’s not my problem. It’s your problem.’”