No rats were found in an old seed warehouse after an investigation by exterminators and city and county officials.
On Friday, 15 sites at the Peterson-Biddick building were dusted to look for rat tracks. No tracks were found and no burrows were found, said Wadena County Public Health Director Karen Nelson. The only track found was one cat track, said Wadena County board chairman Lane Waldahl.
The old Peterson-Biddick seed warehouse near the railroad tracks in southeast Wadena was infested with rats in the fall, but exterminators killed most of the rats. Wadena County and Wadena city officials decided to investigate the building again after recent discussions about whether rats were in the building.
On Friday, Waldahl, Nelson, Wadena Planning and Zoning Director Byron Larson and exterminators investigated the building.
Absolute Pest Elimination in Wadena was contracted by Wadena County to exterminate the rats in the old feed building. In December, the exterminators estimated about 95 percent of 500-800 rats that had infested the building were killed, but they didnt think all the rats would be exterminated.
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The exterminator contract with the county was completed at end of the year.
Buckwheat Growers Association, which is next to east side of the Peterson-Biddick warehouse, contacted the city in the fall about the rat infestation overflowing to the growers building. Because Buckwheat Growers Association is organic certified, it cant use pesticides to kill rats. It can use only mechanical trapping and good housekeeping for rodent control.
The city treated the rat infestation as a public health nuisance. The exterminator cost was $4,900 for the public nuisance abatement and was paid by the county. It will be assessed to the owner through property taxes.
Jarrod Olson, Wadena Development Authority director, said the group of city and county officials plans to meet again to discuss the building. The brick part of the building on the west side is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the land is owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.
