May 30, 2020
CONTACT INFO. :
Office of the Mayor
Patricia Resende
(401) 529-3207
presende@eastprovidenceri.gov
City seeks to combat rodents with trash cart program
EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – The city of East Providence has been researching various ways to combat the rodent issue occurring in some areas of the City. Reducing ready access to food sources, such as improperly disposed of trash, is a sure way to reduce the population of rodents.
Mayor Bob DaSilva has been in negotiation with MEGA our current trash contractor, since December 2019 to devise a program that would provide residents with large trash carts similar to residents’ current recycle bins.
Since those talks with MEGA began, the City was able to see a $163,000 reduction in the proposed original cost for the trash receptacles.
“Rodents are not only a nuisance in our city because the damage they cause to property but they also can transmit diseases,” DaSilva said. “I have met with concerned residents on multiple occasions and have seen firsthand how they have been impacted.
“That is why I am thrilled that we will be able to put these preventative measures in place with help from MEGA,” DaSilva added.
The carts, which will be repaid over 60 months, with no interest charged to the City, would ensure that every resident would have the proper and secure container in which to store their trash and ultimately reducing the food source to rodents.
The MEGA contract extension proposal will first go before the City Council for ratification.
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