City not doing enough to stop termites, Kitchener residents say

Kitchener resident Murray Gerth says he's removed a wooden border from his garden to protect his property against a potential threat of termites. (David Imrie / CTV Kitchener)

The City of Kitchener is moving forward to combat termites in one section of the Laurentian Hills neighbourhood – but people who live in the area say they’re not doing enough.

“They know they’ve got a problem here. They’re just not addressing it properly,” Gord Bradley tells CTV News.

Bradley lives near the 20 properties on the interior of Greenock and Briargate drives where the presence of termites has been detected.

City officials say they’re only concerned with 13 of those properties at this point.

At those 13 properties, homeowners have been told they have until the end of the month – which is also the end of termite control season – to have chemical treatments done, at a cost of several thousand dollars apiece.

Tim Benedict, Kitchener’s manager of buildings, says more work will take place in October, including yard cleanup weekends and public education.

“With them treating their property and us working with some other tactics, we should be able to confine it to the area and maybe reduce the colony,” he said.

A further $32,000 will be spent on cleanup and control next year.

That’s not enough reassurance for Bradley, who says he’s “nervous” about the insects crossing into the rest of the neighbourhood.

“It’s not (about) giving the homeowner money – it’s (about) controlling the problem as it exists,” he says.

“They’re not doing that.”

Another neighbour, Murray Gerth, echoes Bradley’s concerns.

Gerth says he has a plan to make it harder for termites to end up on his property.

“I have a little bit of wood that is old. I’m removing it, and I won’t be replacing it for at least a year,” he says.

It’s believed the termites were brought into the neighbourhood with a shipment of wood.

“It doesn’t look like it migrated there from anywhere else (nearby),” Benedict says.

Monday night, city councillors discussed providing loans to help affected residents pay for cleanup costs – an option which remains under investigation.