LIMA — A Lima neighborhood is working to curb the spread of an infestation of cockroaches that seems to stem from one house, according to neighbors.
According to Bethany Mericle, she and her family have been seeing roaches on the windows and in the driveway of their neighbor’s house, located at 442 W. Grand Ave., with those roaches now entering their house and others in that area.
“It’s been horrible,” she said. “When my husband went and asked [another neighbor] if they were getting cockroaches, she pulled her husband out and started crying and said, ‘Yes,’” she said.
Mericle went on to say that, during the evening hours, roaches can be seen walking down the driveway of that property and along that sidewalk and even crossing the street.
Other neighbors “are embarrassed, too,” she said. “We started noticing them about three weeks ago, just a stray one here and there. It’s gotten worse, and we’ve killed at least 30 of them in our house, now.”
Ray Magnus, candidate for the Lima City Council 1st Ward seat, said that action needs to be taken to address this.
“We need to get this straightened out, either through some legislative action through the city or through one of the local judges to see what we can do to go in and at least spray the outside perimeter,” he said.
Community Development Director Susan Crotty said that she was alerted about the house Monday by 1st Ward Councilman Todd Gordon and that both a property inspector and the junk vehicle officer have taken a look at the property from the public right-of-way. However, property inspectors work during business hours, she said, and with cockroaches being a nocturnal creature, they have not seen the bugs firsthand.
“We have not made contact with the owners, but they are receiving notice of several potential violations,” she said. “We want to be able to justify whatever we’re citing people for, so we need to confirm it.”
Crotty said that Allen County Public Health has also been contacted about the infestation. She also encouraged anyone receiving a notice from property maintenance inspectors to contact that inspector as soon as possible to make arrangements to deal with the issue and avoid potential fines.
According to the Allen County Auditor’s website, the house is an owner-occupied house owned by James Conley Jr. Conley acknowledged the problem and said that he and his wife, who have since separated, are working on cleaning out the house and addressing the roach infestation.
“We are currently bombing the house and have contacted an exterminator, so we are in the process of cleaning it out to get the issue addressed,” he said. “It takes time to get this cleared up, but me and my soon to be ex-wife are working on it.”
In the meantime, Gordon said he has purchased three gallons of bug spray to apply to the foundations of houses in the neighborhood to guard against the roaches, should the residents give permission.
“It’s not a political thing, but more of a neighborly thing to help get this under control,” he said.
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