Angry animal rights people chastised the Bayonne City Council at the July 20 meeting, demanding that a long-delayed ordinance to help trap, neuter, and release feral cats be passed so that colonies of felines can be managed.
Adelade Laure, president of the Hudson County Animal League, and Kathleen Henderson of the Bayonne Feral Cat Foundation said the council has not moved on the ordinance despite promises made last year to do so.
The confrontation came after recent reports that someone may be poisoning feral cats as a means to keep them from invading their property. To add evidence to their claim, a dog owner reported the death of her pet last month, a dog that appeared to have ingested poison.
“We’ve had reports of cats dying from what appears to be poison.” – Kathy Henderson
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While city officials deny receiving other similar reports and claim that there has been no obvious signs of the poison – which is brightly colored – seen in the city, pet owners maintain that they have seen suspicious activity in various parts of Bayonne.
Joe Waks, director of Municipal Services, the department oversees animal control in the city, said his department is concerned about the problem and that rat poison looks like grains of rice but is brightly colored (blue, green, or pink). He said anyone who sees it should report it.
Henderson, however, argued that the residents won’t come forward to report the poisonings because the city will fine them for feeding feral cats.
Extreme measures
She said in one case, a local resident appears to have transported a cat out of the city to kill it. “That person transported the cat to Brick because he didn’t like cats,” she said.
Since her group marks cats with a computer chip when the animal is neutered, they were able to identify it.
She said the city needs to enact the feral cat ordinance to stop the abuse of animals.
City Attorney Charles D’Amico said a record number of tax appeals over the last year has kept his small staff too busy to work on updating the ordinance that the council rejected last year.
One provision of the original ordinance that has officials concerned involved putting the BFCF in charge of appointing official caregivers for the various cat populations.
The ordinance would have outlawed the feeding of feral cats except for officially sanctioned caregivers.
Some residents are opposed to the ordinance, saying that colonies should be moved, not fed.
Council President Terrence Ruane said it is important that lawyers go over the ordinance carefully to assure that residents’ rights are also protected. D’Amico said the Law Department is currently working on the cat control ordinance, which could be introduced at the Aug. 17 meeting.
UPDATED: Council awards a $500K contract to local firm
In what is certain to be fodder for future political elections in the city, the council failed to approve the low bidder and instead awarded a $500,000 contract for city air-conditioning services to In-Line Inc., whose owner serves as treasurer for Councilman Ray Greaves civic association – which is why Greaves abstained on the vote.
The council voted to approve the bid, with Greaves abstaining, for the price of $501,515.
D’Amico said the lower bidder was rejected because the bid specification required the company to name its principal partners, and the company failed to do so. This was a fundamental flaw in the bid and required the council to set aside the bid. He said state law prohibits the council from awarding the bid in a situation such as this.
“Under state law, we could not award the bid to the lowest bidder,” he said.
Noise ordinance to be modified
In other business, the City Council introduced an ordinance that would regulate noise that is generated from outdoor cafes from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., with a public hearing scheduled for Aug. 17.
The City Council is proposing to change the city’s noise ordinance in order to deal with people congregating outside taverns and restaurants.
Police Chief Robert Kubert said the existing ordinance ran into problems after the council passed the café ordinance, permitting outdoor seating and congregating after smoking was banned inside restaurants and bars.
“People congregating on the street outside are creating noise for people above and around these establishments,” he said. “The current ordinance only deals with noise from music from a radio or boombox, not shouting or yelling. This change will allow us to deal with excess noise on the street.”
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.