Decatur County health officials told the Decatur County Council at a meeting that a community‑wide rat infestation concentrated in Clarksburg requires a coordinated eradication effort and likely county funding.

Health Department staff said they mapped signs of rats at roughly 30 properties in Clarksburg and found evidence such as burrows and urine trails using infrared imaging. “We do have a community wide rat problem,” the Health Department speaker said, noting the county has documented bites and other human exposure concerns and that rats can carry many diseases.

The Health Department described an integrated pest management approach: remove food sources and habitat, follow up across the neighborhood, then use trapping and poisoning at the same time so rats do not simply relocate. The department said it will meet with the community and begin eradication work “almost immediately” and that it will not wait for funding to start initial steps.

State law requires county health departments to act when there is a community‑wide rodent problem and the county, not individual property owners, is responsible for paying eradication costs in that circumstance, the Health Department speaker said. For isolated individual infestations, staff said, expenses can be placed on the property tax roll; for the current Clarksburg issue the Health Department described the problem as large enough that county funding will be needed.

Officials provided a preliminary cost figure during discussion. The Health Department speaker estimated the county’s portion could total in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars; during the meeting the figure $404,500 was cited as an estimate and labeled “not counting cleanup.” Officials also said some individual property cleanups could be billed to owners or handled under blighted‑property enforcement where existing code allows costs to be placed on the tax roll.

The Health Department noted one immediate cost savings: a staff member, Alicia, had obtained a pesticide applicator license so the county can perform some pesticide work in‑house rather than hiring an outside contractor — an action the department said would save about $8,000–$10,000 compared with contracting the work.

Council members asked how staff determined the count of affected homes; staff said a map in the emailed plan showed sites where they found either rats or signs of rats (burrows, droppings, urine trails). Staff emphasized Norway rats are the species found and reiterated the public‑health risks that make rapid, neighborhood‑scale work necessary.

No formal appropriation or authorization for large‑scale eradication spending was approved at the meeting. Council members and staff agreed next steps include a community meeting in Clarksburg, follow‑up coordination with county departments (including code enforcement and regional planning), and staff-level work to scope costs and possible funding paths. The Health Department said it will proceed with immediate, lower‑cost actions and will return to the council if additional county funding is required.

For now, the council record shows: discussion and direction to proceed with community engagement and initial eradication steps, but no county appropriation was adopted for the full eradication program at this meeting.