Boise Bench neighbors dealing with a growing rat problem are getting some relief. Central District Health's board approved $250,000 Friday for a rodent abatement and prevention project. WATCH | What the quarter-million-dollar ro dent abatement and prevention project looks like Central District Health approved $250K to fight growing rat problemJosie Fretwell has lived on the Boise Bench for nine years and said this summer brought unwelcome guests. She is now paying about $700 a year for pest control to keep rats away from her home."I was scared, really," Fretwell said. "And it just made me feel hassled."RELATED | Boise leaders hear concerns, discuss solutions for growing Treasure Valley rat problemKristin Ryan, director of Central District Health, said the funding is a starting point."I think it's a good start," Ryan said. "Who knows where we'll go with it, but at this stage, at least communicating."Ryan said this is one-time funding. While CDH has not seen a reported increase in disease connected to rats, Ryan said they do not want to wait for that to happen."We want to do our part to help our communities address this problem that's concerning and has the potential to lead to diseases down the road," Ryan said. "So we want to influence that trajectory we're going with rats and see if we can turn it around and reduce the numbers."The exact plan for the money is not set yet, but Ryan said educating neighbors and developing an app are among the ideas being considered."We could distribute free traps, the snap traps. We also wanna work with pesticide applicators that do this for a living. That's their job and they're the experts," Ryan said.Fretwell lives near a canal where rats travel and said she wants to see cities, counties and other agencies work together to control rats in larger public spaces."We could do a lot more if county and city agencies were working together on solutions for these much larger pieces of property, manage the parks, manage the open spaces," Fretwell said.READ MORE | 'It needs to be dealt with': Boise Bench neighbors push local leaders to act on Treasure Valley rat problemRyan said that kind of partnership is also something CDH wants to explore, working with the communities and agencies that manage public land."I'm hoping it allows us to be a partner with our communities in a way that we haven't in the past," Ryan said.Fretwell said the funding signals that officials are listening."I thought that was a really good movement in that direction, and it indicates to me that they are hearing from the citizens," Fretwell said.Central District Health said the next step is meeting with community stakeholders to determine exactly how the $250,000 will be used.This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less