The Levelland City Council held a special meeting Monday evening to discuss budget items, but was adjusted to address the Red Flour Beetle infestation in the Kaufman Addition.
During the last regularly scheduled council meeting last week, community members residing in the Kaufman Addition utilized the public comment portion of the meeting to demand action from the city in regard to the infestation of the beetles.
Similar to the previous meeting, multiple residents took part in public comment questioning the lack of action from the city and pointing toward Penny Newman as the culprit similar to the last meeting.
Levelland and Hockley County Emergency Management Coordinator Cole Kirkland spoke to the council and the citizens in attendance explaining that he was approached last Friday by city staff concerning the infestation of the Kaufman Addition and gave a brief time line explanation of how the beetle infestation progressed since their first sightings in 2022.
Kirkland added that efforts to identify the source of the beetles was minimal and no mitigation was taken at that time.
“The lack of the due diligence on the city’s part is unacceptable,” said Kirkland.
The Red Flour Beetle or known as a “Pantry Pest” has now been found in areas that are not known as food sources for the insect.
Kirkland added that a meeting was held Monday morning before the special meeting, including himself, city officials and the Hockley County Texas AgriLife Extension Office. In that meeting, the group created a plan of action that will be implemented to address the infestation of the beetle.
A general consensus among the group is to proceed with sample testing of every commodity facility within the industrial rail park located south of the Kaufman Addition.
“This will cover all areas and all bases to ensure that we do our due diligence that we do not miss the primary or secondary source,” said Kirkland.
With that being said, Kirkland added that the population is so high in a concentrated area regarding the beetle that there may be a teritary or a number of sources. It was highlighted that with the amount of agriculture in the area, there is a large amount of stored feed and other attractive foods that the beetle could find.
“It’s going to be absolutely everyone’s effort to move forward to make sure this problem is mitigated,” said Kirkland. “That includes everyone in the industrial rail park, City of Levelland and the residents as well.”
Kirkland informed those in attendance that items stored in pantries along with animal food is what the beetles will be looking for. Additionally, the amount of lights coming from the Kaufman Addition at night also attracts the insect. He suggested bug zappers for outside use and turning off exterior lights during the late night hours.
While beetles are a common occurrence in commodities, Kirkland added that the amount of beetles found in the Kauffman is not common. With all the commodities within the city limits, Kirkland suggested implementing an amendment to the zoning ordinance to handle the commodities that are being stored on the ground.
Getting the ball rolling to address the situation, Kirkland added that the group handling the situation has acquired affidavits in place to begin sampling the industrial park.
“We want to work with our corporate and business partners to figure out the source, but if not, we are absolutely willing and able to move forward with an affidavit and warrant to get the samples to test,” said Kirkland. “This has gone on long enough.”
Kirkland added that Penny Newman has been receptive and willing to work with the group to get the sampling done and wished that everyone within the rail park be sampled as well.
Not encountering any problems with the process at this point in time, Kirkland explained to council that the group is taking the proper steps legally to work quickly to mitigate the issue.
Moving forward, the city is taking steps to find the source in the coming days by using pheromone traps throughout the afflicted area, as well as probing samples from every grain-hauling business in the Levelland Railpark.