By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
There’s a tiny problem in Bucyrus and it will not be going away anytime soon.
That was the message representatives from Crawford County Public Health and Chuck Jewlett of Kline Pest Control left the Bucyrus City Council with Tuesday night. Kate Siefert and Steve Jozwiak, along with Jewlett, were invited to the council meeting to speak about the bed bug problem the city has been facing.
“It’s not unique to Bucyrus; it’s not unique to Crawford County; and it’s certainly not unique to Ohio even,” said Siefert, who serves as the administrator of Crawford County Public Health. “Bed bugs have been around for a long time and, from the looks of it, are here to stay.”
Jozwiak said there is no proof that bed bugs transmit diseases to humans but the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have labeled them a public health concern.
A bed bug infestation can be found in personal belongings, rental furniture, visitors, and workers. A professional pest control specialist can rid an infestation with insecticides, heat treatment, or spot steaming. The treatments may have to be done multiple times in order to gain control of an infestation.
Siefert said their social workers are often in places where bed bug infestations may be and take numerous precautions, from changing shoes or clothes after a visit or sitting in a kitchen chair to avoid fabric furniture where bed bugs could hide.
“It reduces your risk of possibly picking one up,” Siefert said. “That awareness, understanding how a bed bug works, what it likes to do. We can reduce our risk, but we’re never going to eliminate our risk.”
When council member Bill O’Rourke asked what bed bugs eat, Jewlett replied candidly: “You’re their smorgasbord.”
Jewlett was adamant on the city providing its workers with a washer and dryer in the building to avoid any possible infestations from visits they make.
“If we’re not proactive about it, we’re going to keep me in business for a very long time,” Jewlett said. “Well, thank you very much, but I don’t think that’s really what we want. Further, when it comes to really resolving this issue, what we need the public to do is to admit it. It’s not going to go away. This is not going to go away; this is not a cold.”
Jewlett said there may be embarrassment, but if the word is spread about possible infestations it could save others the same heartache.
“When you think about someone with a young baby – it’s horrendous what they’re going through,” Jewlett said. “Just the physical act of getting properly prepared is a big job.”
Jewlett said it could cost a homeowner upwards of $200 to rid a home of a bed bug infestation.
“It came to light because we here at the city, we have police officers, we have firemen, we have garbage collectors, we have parts of our staff that have an opportunity to come into contact with them,” said council president Sis Love. “We needed educated; we figured probably the rest of the public also needed education along those lines.”
More information can be found by contacting the Crawford County Public Health at 419-562-5871 or at www.centralohiobedbugs.org.
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The heated issues brought up at the last council meeting concerning allegations of Sunshine Law violations came to light again during Tuesday night’s meeting but for a different reason.
Council member Bruce Truka pointed out a number of corrections from the minutes from the last meeting, which he said did not reflect what was recorded.
“The public needs to know that the meeting didn’t take place,” said council member Wanda Sharrock in response to the minutes that stated Sharrock, Truka, Steve Pifer, and John Walker had expressed “ill feelings” towards the allegations.
The four members were accused of violating Sunshine Law by having a meeting in the Auditor’s office prior to a December council meeting without notifying the public.
“The concern is the minutes don’t reflect there was no meeting. If I make a mistake, I admit it,” Sharrock argued before adding there was no mistake made that night.
“Anybody . . . should be able to pick this up and know what happened at the meeting,” Truka said.
Pifer also chimed in, stating that the letter Sharrock sent to Love – which was addressed to the office at City Hall – should have been read into the council’s communications and petitions.
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