WILLSBORO, N.Y. — A state of emergency is in place for the upstate New York town of Willsboro, while an infestation of rats at a private home is dealt with. 

“The exterminator says the rats number well into the hundreds”, Town Supervisor Shaun Gillilland said.

“(He) says it’s a very, very bad infestation.”

The state of emergency allows the town to take immediate action without putting the extermination process out to bid, as the rats pose a threat to the health of the person who lives there and also to other citizens.

The rodents, the declaration states, are “causing unsafe, unhealthy and unsanitary conditions.”

A town of roughly 2,000 people, Willsboro homes sit quite close together on Gillilland Lane, the supervisor said. Neighbors have expressed concerns that eradication efforts might send rats onto their properties.

The plan, the supervisor said, is to close off any entry/exit points used by the rodents so the creatures can’t escape into the neighborhood.

Code Officer Doug Rock will perform inspections for anyone who would like one done.

Wednesday afternoon, town officials were sitting down with the Essex County Department of Social Services and also an exterminator from Orkin, the pest-control firm that has begun the work, Gillilland said.

“The Town of Willsboro supervisor, highway superintendent/superintendent of Public Works, purchasing agent, director of emergency services are hereby authorized and directed to enter into emergency contracts for all essential and necessary services required to ameliorate and remedy the emergency conditions,” the proclamation says.

The homeowner, whose name was not released for privacy reasons, has been housed temporarily at a hotel, Gillilland said.

So far, traps have been set and at first, it was thought that would be enough he said, and the occupant had agreed to that.

But once that expert had taken a look, he told town officials that the only way to rid the property completely of rats would be to clean out both house and yard while simultaneously killing the rodents.

“One without the other is not going to work,” Gillilland said.

The house is filled with trash, he said, and the yard is also strewn with garbage.

And there’s an immense amount of rat waste, he noted.

The home is an older, historic place, Gillilland said, that was renovated a few years ago.

From the street, he said, it looks fine.

The situation came to light when complaints were made about the rats, the town supervisor said.

Willsboro’s medical officer, Dr. Josh Schwartzberg, performed an inspection and called it a public health hazard, according to Gillilland.

The town conferred with numerous Essex County departments, including Social Services, Mental Health, Public Health and County Attorney Daniel Manning, who filed the state of emergency proclamation this week.

It will be in place until noon Jan. 1, unless terminated earlier or extended by the town.

Since the matter is an emergency, the town will foot the bill for the extermination, though the cost could then be levied against the homeowner’s property taxes.

As of Thursday afternoon, the estimated price tag for ridding the property of rodents was $6,500.

“So far,” Gillilland emphasized.

It could take as many as six or seven forays to get all the rats, he has been told.

“We’ll go until they’re all cleaned out.”

Moore is the news editor for the Plattsburgh, New York Press Republic.