Council and Province play pass the rat

Spaniard’s Bay council has decided to write back the provincial environment department suggesting it look into a complaint about rats on a property in town.

The move comes after a resident of Church Hill Road contacted the department about rats in the area, and the environment department sent a letter to council on the resident's behalf.

The issue is not new to the council; a number of residents have complained about rats in town. Councillor Darlene Stamp said she’s started seeing rats around her garbage box for the first time in 45 years.

The resident who wrote the environment department pointed the finger at a neighbour’s property as being the source of the problem on Church Hill Road.

Stamp asked if there is an obvious source on the property that could be attracting rodents, or if they just happened to be in the garden.

Mayor Paul Brazil noted that rats sometimes travel along the banks of brooks and streams. He suggested council contact the homeowner of the property with the alleged rat problem to see if any action can be taken on that person’s part.

However, councillor Eric Jewer argued that as it was the environment department that sent the letter to council, council should reply to it and not to a specific resident.

Mayor Brazil subsequently suggested that perhaps an officer from the department could visit the site to see what the situation is and what potentially can be done.

Olivia Bradbury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Shoreline News