Bedbugs Shutter Brick Township Municipal Building

Brick Township's Municipal Building is closed until further notice because of bedbug infestation.

Mayor Steve Acropolis says the bloodsucking pests were spotted by clerical workers in the Human Resources department and the Tax Office. Administrators decided to turn the key at about 11 AM.

He adds that the move is a health- and safety-assurance move for visitors and employees. "We sent everybody home, we have a skeletal crew," he says, "to take care of immediate concerns."

Workers who were sent home are paid for the day, says the Mayor, and will be paid during the closure.

The immediate changes are as follows:

Property tax payments for the third quarter of 2012 that were due August 1 are not being collected until the building reopens. Township Police are headquartered in their Mobile Command unit in the municipal complex. Tonight's municipal court schedule is cancelled.

Recreation, Public Works, Senior Outreach and township beaches are not affected by the closure. All off-site events continue unabated.

Acropolis says that effective immediately, regular monthly exterminator visits loom as a likely procedure. "We're going to have a dog in once a month for the next six months to a year. Then, we'll have a regular exterminator come in once a month or at least once a quarter."

He says that it's too early to tell whether any furniture or office items will be discarded, but speculates that any extraneous costs will be covered through an emergency appropriation, possibly being drawn from budget surplus.