The Rats are making a come back in South Cheektowaga!

[Electric Eye]

Wife was walking the dog and seen a dead one, then several other people walking dogs told her they have seen some and so have their neighbors.

[WNYresident]

Well the neighbors should make sure they don't have any food sources that will attract the rats. I'm not going to openly point a finger but some people throw away a lot of trash. The lids on totes looks like they are not fully closed. Can rats jump up into a tote that is open? Are there any open dumpsters in the areas where the rats are seen?

[Dan Roman]

Wife was walking the dog and seen a dead one, then several other people walking dogs told her they have seen some and so have their neighbors.

Oh, I thought you meant certain politicians

[cheekman]

Oh, I thought you meant certain politicians

Max lives there, dump truck jerry, rogowski, some big ones..

[gorja]

I've been looking out for the rats where I live in Lancaster because they spent a couple weeks digging near Walden and Central. Don't know what they were digging water, sewer or what? I thought if it was the sewer, the rats would be looking for a new home. Haven't seen any yet. I flip the porch and floodlights on and off before I venture out in the dark for work in the morning.

[gorja]

Why isn't there more enforcement of the current code?

Every owner and/or occupant of any residential property located within the Town's Refuse District shall be responsible for storing all MSW in a leakproof container with a close-fitting cover at all times until removed from the premises at disposal.

As rats continue to plague Lancaster, town continues to ponder totes

Rats continue to plague neighborhoods in the village and town of Lancaster.

Newell Avenue neighbors see them.

People in the Central Avenue business district have seen them.

And residents in other areas of the village and town have seen them.

And that is why Lancaster town leaders have been talking for some time about using garbage and recycling totes to attack the growing rat problem.

But town leaders are not yet willing to commit to totes.

“There may be a consideration for totes,” Supervisor Johanna M. Coleman said in response to a resident’s complaint Tuesday night.

“I’m not ruling out totes, and I’m not ruling in totes,” Coleman said.

Paul Nosbisch Jr. complained to the board about the rats, urging the town to get the totes, which several other local communities have adopted in recent years with success.

“I have seen rats that I thought were cats crossing the road,” he said. “I can’t believe the size of the rats.”

Without committing to the totes, Coleman said she recognized the problem.

“The rats keep moving,” Coleman said. “I agree that something needs to be done.”

The town’s garbage and recycling contract with Waste Management runs through January 2019, so the town has some time to weigh its options.

Coleman said a strong split exists in the community between those who are adamant about getting totes versus others equally adamant in their opposition. The town took over garbage collection in the village in 1988.

Councilman Ronald Ruffino Sr. said the main opposition to totes has been over the expense. The cost of the tote and the resulting additional charge on garbage fees could be at least another $45.

“That’s a significant increase. But the safety of the public is important, too,” Coleman said. “So what price do you put on the cost of public safety?”

Coleman and other town officials noted that Waste Management has retooled trucks to handle picking up totes and disposing of the waste in their trucks.

“Now, they do it in many municipalities,” Coleman said, adding that she has met with Waste Management officials since taking office in January.

Now that Waste Management’s trucks are retrofitted to handle the large totes, there may be a different public response than there was years ago, Ruffino said.

The town’s contract doesn’t expire for another three years, but Coleman said now is the time to begin preparing the bid process and considering such items.

Depew officials recently talked about possibly lending some of their municipality’s totes to the Central Avenue area in downtown Lancaster to see if that would have an effect, Councilman Matthew Walter said.

Coleman said that the biggest problem is dog feces left in yards, which draws rodents. And some residents overload garbage containers with garage overflowing and lids not closed tightly, she said.

“That won’t help the problem, either,” Coleman said.

Walter said he believes that since Depew began using totes a couple of years ago, the rats have migrated to other areas, to Lancaster.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-regi...totes-20160217