Evanston aldermen Monday postponed action on a new rat control contract after receiving bids that led them to doubt whether the bidder recommended by city staff knew how much work they were signing up for.
The unusual situation developed after the city’s current rodent control contractor, Rose Pest Solutions of Northfield, which had been doing the job for $22,800 a year, submitted a bid of $71,440 — more than three times as high — to keep doing the job for another year.
Three other bidders offered prices between $22,840 and $33,325 for the job — and city staff recommended selecting Smithereen Pest Control of Niles for the job — based on its experience providing residential rodent control services in other communities. Smithereen’s bid came in at $30,000.
But after considerable debate, the aldermen decided they wanted to question a Smithereen representative at their next meeting, Feb. 13, to be sure the company understood the scope of the work expected, before voting on the new contract.
Service requests from residents for rat control assistance have risen dramatically in recent years, from 276 in 2012 to 1,280 in 2015, although they dropped somewhat last year to 1,108.
Some aldermen have said they hear more complaints from constituents about rats than any other issue.
Rats everywhere
I’ve seen more rats in downtown Evanston in 2016 than in my entire life as a resident here. Especially by the Davis Metra stop, if you pay attention, you will see several rats scurrying through the bushes.
Rat explosion
I’ve never seen such a rat problem in Evanston as today. The City and Rose Pest were very responsive to my complaint, however, rat poison bait traps are not very effective. Spring loaded traps worked (rat-sized mouse traps), as did digging up the rats’ nest. They’ve since returned to my yard in a different spot.
Bottom line: the rat problem is so big that some sort of new, creative control program will have to be implemented. Putting out a bunch of poison traps ain’t gonna cut it.
Rat
That rat in the picture is cute. I haven’t seen a rat here in Evanston though, but the squirrels in my alley are pretty aggressive.