Youngstown, N.Y. (WBEN) - Tick season in Western New York is in full swing, and the concerns surrounding the parasitic arachnids continues to grow each and every year.
Given the increasing concerns over tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Alpha-gal syndrome, local municipalities are working to ensure the safety of its residents from these pesky parasites.
In the Town of Lewiston, recreation director Tim Smith is working to have the town parks treated and sprayed once again in an effort to prevent ticks from becoming a massive problem.
"In the past years, it has been growing, especially with our warmer weather, especially during the winter time," said Smith in an interview with WBEN. "We did spray our fields last year, because we did have some cases of people with either their pets or their children getting ticks. This year, we've had quite a number of cases, and we did plan on doing it, and we're just trying to be proactive to get all of our fields sprayed, so it does protect all those that come out and visit our parks."
The town has three camp sites, baseball leagues, dog parks and other events where residents and visitors often come down and visit their parks.
When the town had its parks treated last year for ticks, Smith says it worked out great.
"We had no problems thereafter, I don't think there were any incidents. Then again, nothing in life is foolproof. But if we can do something to be preventative, I think that's the best course of action for the community," he said.
The company the town has come out to spray the parks uses chemicals that are all approved by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and safe for residents and pets alike.
"The perimeter is what's sprayed to protect the area. It's almost similar to how people would have their home sprayed, whether it's for weeds or mosquitoes," Smith noted. "It is sprayed around the perimeters, they do require our park to be closed for 24 hours. I take it a step further with Town of Lewiston, we make it 48 hours just to be on the safe side. And then after that, the parks are usable.
"[DEC] have assured this is the best course of action to be preventative, if it's done right. That's why we take the extra step. It is a chemical, yes, that's probably something that's - like any other thing - a harmful chemical that you don't want to be having any intake of any sort of measurement. But we close our park so no one can be around it, and again, we wait that extra 24 hours just to be on the safe side. So if we do the right thing and follow their recommendations, everything would be OK."
With Lewiston not being the only municipality in Western New York dealing with ticks, Smith says communication between community leaders has been ongoing more than ever. And it doesn't stop in just Niagara County.
"I've been contacted from some local towns and communities, and even out in Erie County inquiring how we do things as well, because there has been - especially this year - an increase in the tick problem," Smith said. "People want to know how we're doing it, and why we're doing it. Obviously, it's just to keep everybody safe, but we're doing it in a way that it's done right. And hopefully we can prevent any further occurrences."
While Smith knows closing down parks for 24-48 hours can be It can a bit of a setback or nuisance, there are ways to try and offset one park being closed and cutting off an asset for the community.
"How we do it, we don't close all of our parks at the same time, so you don't have a weekend or whatever where you can't use all of our parks. We kind of split it up, so we still have the availability of playgrounds, baseball diamonds, softball diamonds available for our residents to use," Smith noted. "And it's just trying to work it out with whoever you have to come in and spray it, and make it work for everybody in the town."
Smith adds if anyone has any concerns about a possible tick problem or how a municipality may be trying to treat it, don't hesitate to contact your community leaders.
"[Lewiston residents] can contact me directly at the Town of Lewiston Town Hall. I'd be more than happy to discuss any questions they have," he said. "We do have a ton of kids that do come to our camps, play baseball, that are out here at our playgrounds visiting daily. There's no way we would do anything or put anything on these grounds or any of our parks that would be detrimental to our citizens."
