CENTRE WELLINGTON – While the Township of Centre Wellington is moving forward with a termite program after years of working on one, the mayor there said the program needs to get a lot of homeowners on board to have a significant impact on the problem.
He encouraged people to talk about it to encourage enough uptake into treatment.
They certainly talked about it at Shawn Watters’ town hall held at the Jefferson Elora Community Centre Tuesday evening.
Among the common talking points by Watters such as the township’s growth, ongoing construction and the upcoming budget process, resident Jean Innes asked the mayor what’s going on with termites as she’d had ongoing issues with them for years.
“Our council came to the conclusion that it’s not just an individual issue, but it’s a community issue that is threatening both here in Elora and in Fergus,” Watters said.
A past survey taken in 2020 and 2021 found hundreds of homes were either infested with termites, called red zones, or at risk, called blue zones, in both Elora and Fergus.
Council and staff had come close a few times to getting a program together over the past four years but finally decided on an arms-length approach at the previous day’s council meeting.
CAO Dan Wilson explained at the town hall council approved the township to enter into agreements with two companies who provide a certain type of termite treatment, which Watters called “game-changing,” and to create a subsidy program for a maximum of $2,500.
Wilson said he expected the final program will be ready in October for council approval and he expected homeowners to be able to access it right away.
The township can’t force anybody to take part in the treatment as all contracts will be between homeowners and the companies. Wilson added the pest control companies said they need at least 60 per cent of the properties in the red and blue zones to sign up to see significant progress in termite eradication.
“The problem will not go away if we don’t have uptake from the entire community,” Watters said. “If you don’t have a good uptake in terms of people sort of feeling the same way as you do, then it’s going to be a difficult struggle, but that’s why I think the idea of an education program, along with this type of program that we’re proposing, I think will go a long way at least to start.”
The mayor said the township will do what it can to educate the public on the importance of this program and best practices in termite areas but added neighbours talking about it openly will be a big part of it.
“It’s really going to be up to you to walk up to your neighbour or talk over the fence and say ‘hey this is what we’re doing, I hope you’re part of this,’” Watters said.
Innes told the crowd it was good to see the problem being acknowledged and talked about so openly and felt they should continue to keep it in people’s minds through talking about it.
“I think this new system has potential and that’s why we can talk about it more because up until now, there’s really been nothing we can do,” Innes said, explaining past treatments tend to just keep termites away for periods of time before they return. “It’s been going on and on and on for a very long time and it’s only now becoming publicly acknowledged.”
