Carbon County has a bat problem.

On Thursday, Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said the county is currently working to keep bats out of the chimney and attic areas of the county courthouse.He said there are bat droppings in the attic area, but the amount of droppings found does not pose a health risk to employees and visitors of the courthouse.The county also spoke with a batproofing company to see how much it would cost to fix the problem.Commissioner Wayne Nothstein said it would cost tens of thousands of dollars because they would need to go through the century-old structure with a fine-tooth comb to find all possible entrances.Gerhard said it isn't worth paying that because expansion and contraction of seams when the seasons change would create new entry points every year, and bats can get into spaces the size of an adult thumb.He said the county has decided to do preventive measures to hopefully resolve the issue. The maintenance department will place screening inside the bell tower, and an outside company will be contracted to install a cone in the chimney that will allow bats to exit but not re-enter and a cap to deter the critters from flying in.Gerhard said he spoke with a company in Pennsylvania that has a bat hibernation area.Two years ago, the bat population at the hibernaculum was 50,000; this year it has decreased to 27 because of the white nose syndrome that affected thousands of bats recently."I was told for us to have bats up here, technically it is a problem, but we really should be happy about it," Gerhard said.The commissioners said that they are looking to resolve the problem in the most humane way, but added that it needs to be taken care of before it creates a major issue with disrupting the courts or creating a health hazard.Gerhard said later Thursday afternoon that the county already had one bat that decided to visit a courtroom during session.The bat was captured by personnel and safely removed without incident.In other matters, the commissioners:• Approved an agreement with Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley Inc. (Second Harvest Food Bank) to provide services as lead agency under the Carbon County Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program. The term of the agreement is from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2015.• Ratified the wage increase for the Transportation Construction Inspection Supervisor under the agreement with Navarro and Wright Consulting Engineering Inc. of New Cumberland, effective July 1, as outlined in the strike out letter issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Carbon County Bridge 16 project in Towamensing Township.• Approved a proposal by Person Agency Inc. of Lehighton for the appraisal of the Richard Fedor farm property in Palmerton at a quoted price of $2,000.• Approved a proposal by Keystone Engineering Group of Malvern, for professional services relative to cost estimating and grant application support for a proposed project consisting of electrical and fire alarm upgrades at the Old Mauch Chunk Train Station. The cost is $3,700.• Approved an agreement with Blue Mountain Health System to provide medical services at the Carbon County Correctional Facility, effective Oct. 1, for a two-year period, with automatic renewal for periods of two years on the same terms and conditions. The cost is $48,787 for the first year and $50,200 for the second year.