SUMMIT, NJ — A rat problem in the community was brought to light by Summit resident Laura Soden, who lives on Madison Avenue, during the Summit Council meeting on Tuesday, July 27.
“I just came to make a comment because I read on Summit Happenings (Facebook group) that a neighbor of mine on Lafayette was talking about rats in his yard,” Soden said. “My next-door neighbor had a rat that was dying in his yard the other day. (He) put it out of his misery, as he termed it. Since 2018 to September of 2019, I’ve had rats in my yard. I had 12 bait boxes, and now I’m down to seven.
Soden said she and her neighbors thought the increase in rats was due to the demolition of the recent buildings. These buildings are gone, but the rats remain, and she said their numbers seem to be increasing.
“We have a lot of new children, new families in the neighborhood, babies that play in the yard,” she said. “I don’t have an answer. My concern is … if you have food, if you have construction, you’re going to have rats. I thought: ‘Is this the new norm?’ I know we have rats. Rats are going to be with us, and we’re never going to exterminate all of the rats, but shouldn’t we be looking to see if we can keep them at bay? They do carry disease, and I just don’t want them in my house, and they were getting very close to my house. The holes were getting quite close to my foundation.
“The other concern is, when they build on that lot where they took down the buildings, we will start that (rat) cycle all over again, and Morris Avenue may have an impact on what’s going on as well, with their construction,” she added.
Summit Mayor Nora Radest admitted there was a rat problem in various communities, but suggested reaching out to the Health Department and enlisting the help of a health inspector. The registered environmental health specialist for the Summit Health Department is George Kornias.
“There were a couple different locations in town in the last year and a half to two years where we’ve had some rat problems,” Radest said on Tuesday, July 27. “By Fairview and Springfield Avenue, down on Glenside, Ashwood. You’re right. You’re never going to get rid of rats, and it has to do with sometimes construction and food. So we’ll have our inspectors go down and we’ll reach out to the health inspector, because he was very helpful, at least according to the residents that I heard back from after he had spoken with them. He visited their homes, gave them ideas about what they could do and then going back and doing extra visits.”
First Ward Council member B. David Naidu spoke of a similar situation happening to another nearby resident, prompting him to try and put Soden in contact with the appropriate people at the Health Department.
“I don’t know who posted on Summit Happenings, but I saw (someone named) Jonathan who posted on another private group about the rats,” Naidu said on Tuesday, July 27. “So, I contacted the Westfield Health Department, because I saw his post. Laura, I can tell them about your (issue) as well, because I was already communicating with them about Jonathan’s situation and they needed his phone number. If you can give me your contact (information), I can give it to them and then I’ll tell them to add you to the list.”