NEW ULM — Residents at Broadway Haus are seeking a solution to an ongoing bed bug problem.

A letter written by Broadway Haus resident Shari Schiltz and signed by 11 people in the apartment building was sent to the New Ulm Journal requesting the maximum heat treatment be implemented on the building to eradicate the infestation.

In the letter, Schiltz said every tenant in the building has been affected by this problem and they are looking for an immediate solution.

Schiltz said the bed bug problem has been a recurring problem in the building. The problem first surfaced in March with one apartment unit infestation.

Broadway Haus is owned and managed by New Ulm’s Economic Development Authority (EDA). The EDA did contract with Plunkett’s in March to exterminate the bed bugs. Housing Coordinator Heather Bregel said this was done through heat treatment. The room is heated to over 100 degrees to kill the bugs. The tenant cannot be in the building during this time. After the unit is heated, the apartment is cooled with fans to allow a tenant to reoccupy the unit.

Bregel said following this treatment, there were no bed bug complaints again until July. Two additional apartments were heat-treated for bed bugs. In August, more bed bug reports were made. A sweep of the building found two additional units with bed bugs. These rooms are scheduled for heat treatment next week.

Bregel said the reason for the delay in treatments is the heating equipment is available on a waiting list. It is estimated that it will take that long before the apartments can be treated.

Bregel said there is a plan to change the contract with Plunkett’s to treat more apartment units at a time. The hope is 10 apartments can be treated at a time. There are 40 units in Broadway Haus. The hope is, all units will receive necessary treatments within a few months.

Additional chemical spraying is being done in common areas as an extra precaution against the bugs.

“It is understandable [residents] are upset,” Bregel said. “We are doing everything we can to treat them.”

The wait for the bed bug treatment has several Broadway Haus residents on edge.

“People can’t sleep in their beds,” Schiltz said. “People get sores when they do.”

Broadway Haus residents Eileen Kokesch also signed the letter and said she has woken up with bites on multiple occasions. A red bite mark is visible on her forearms. Schiltz and Kokesch said there are other residents with worse bites.

Schiltz acknowledged that it was difficult to get rid of bed bugs, but said residents should not have to live like this.

When an apartment has bed bugs, even a week’s delay is excruciating.