OCEAN CITY — Rats.
Two homeowners in the business district complained to Ocean City Council on Thursday evening about rat burrows on their properties and neighboring properties and asked the city for more help.
Colleen King said she has owned her property at 1132 Asbury Ave. for 48 years and was speaking on her own behalf and that of neighbors. She said the rat problem is “extensive and alarming,” and that she found multiple rat burrows around her home.
She said she hired an exterminator and had spent hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars trying to remedy the situation. She had landscapers remove ivy and ground cover and she put down stones instead as her lawn.
King, who in late April posted about the problem on Facebook, showing photos of the burrows, said she even purchased a night vision camera to verify them. On Facebook, she advised residents to look around their sheds, fences, porches, foundations and trash areas and advised them to secure their trash lids and contact pest control.
“This is not an isolated issue,” she posted, adding she was sharing it “so neighbors can stay ahead of it.”
Others responded to her post with stories of their own and blamed some of the eateries from Ninth to 12th streets.
King said she contacted the board of health multiple times and the city administration. She said the city installed eight boxes to combat the rat problem but called that a “temporary Band-Aid, not a long-term solution.”
King said she also contacted restaurant owners who have overflowing dumpsters. Some made promises, she said, but six weeks later little appeared to have changed.
She said one restaurant owner said its trash is picked up daily in the summer, that dumpsters are enclosed to reduce access by pests and recyclables are stored in an enclosed container.
King added her husband nearly stepped on a dead rat while walking down the block.
She does not know the solution. She suggested 65-gallon rodent-proof trash cans for restaurants, rat birth control or even rat terriers, likening them to the hawks used to keep sea gulls at bay in the city.
“I love Ocean City and want to be part of the solution,” she said. “Residents shouldn’t have to fight this problem alone.”
Janice Dickson of 1241 West Ave. told council she had a new experience, picking up a dead rat from her outdoor shower, which her grandchildren used.
“I never experienced anything like that in my life and I owned the property for seven years,” she said.
“We all have to take care of our own properties,” Dickson added, but noted there is a multi-unit building behind her that has six to eight overflowing trashcans with no lids that are a breeding ground for rodents and are picked at by sea gulls and other birds.
City Council President Terry Crowley Jr., questioned about the issue Friday, said he expected the city would educate businesses on proper trash remediation and the city would look at all options to help, both conventional and unconventional.
“We are working with everyone and code enforcement is educating and enforcing the violations,” Mayor Jay Gillian wrote in response to a request for comment. “We are working with the falcon company.
“This is a reminder for everyone to put their trash out properly and look after your neighbors.
“As always this is a community working together issue,” Gillian added.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
