Totes are coming to Lancaster

[WNYresident]

I agree. Rats have been around for 100's of years. You will also not change behavioral issues. We have apple trees in the yard. Deer/rats love apples but I'm not going to make a point of picking up apples once they start dropping. 100's and 100's of apples and pears. This is why I set traps when needed.

[mark blazejewski]

We have apple trees in the yard. Deer/rats love apples but I'm not going to make a point of picking up apples once they start dropping. 100's and 100's of apples and pears.

YES!!!

My neighbor has a dilapidated shed with raccoons and woodchucks living underneath it. Like the woodchucks, I can live without the raccoons.

Also, two apple trees which the neighbor planted in the last three or four years. Squirrels and the rat creatures love the food source.

[mark blazejewski]

I thank Supervisor Coleman for her response, and for her consideration to the issue which I raised.

Johanna M. Coleman
4:24 PM (5 minutes ago)

Mark,
Thank you for your thoughtful question regarding the Refuse Collection and Disposal Request for Proposals. Please be assured that we are taking into consideration your question referenced below as well as many other concerns.

Johanna M. Coleman
Supervisor
Town of Lancaster
21 Central Avenue
Lancaster NY 14086
716.683.1610 Office
716.683.0512 Facsimile
716.316.3868 Mobile
jcoleman@lancasterny.gov

My thank you to the Supervisor:

Thank you very much for your response Mrs. C.

My question may not effect many concurrently, but it is a lurking problem for many. One would have to live the experience to believe it.

AMB to everyone,

Mark

[gorja]

I thank Supervisor Coleman for her response, and for her consideration to the issue which I raised.




My thank you to the Supervisor:

Mark, there was a couple homes on Walden between Cemetery and Central that had what you are referring to. They had many, many bags of briefs. I'll have to take that route home the next trash day to see if they had increased the number of totes (trash cans) to solve that issue

[mark blazejewski]

Mark, there was a couple homes on Walden between Cemetery and Central that had what you are referring to. They had many, many bags of briefs. I'll have to take that route home the next trash day to see if they had increased the number of totes (trash cans) to solve that issue

Seriously Gorja, it was an unbelievable experience. I don't have a current horse in the race, but having been there, I just hope voicing my experience will help those in need, or in future need.

A shout-out to Lee and to you for bringing the issue up for public scrutiny and debate. As I previously posted, had it not been for Lee, my concerns would have been entirely reactive, ex post facto.

I must say that I was perhaps a bit impatient with Mrs. Coleman's staff, but they did address my concern prior to any possible public discussion, and her office demonstrated a consideration that was sorely lacking in the VOL when I had concerns regarding a different issue related to in-home medical experiences.

[Lee Chowaniec]

Get the warranty of the totes up front. Double check if rat "chew" damage is covered in writing.

Where does one find warranted rat proof garbage totes? Have not run across any in the stores or online. Online there is the claim of rat proof on almost any garbage tote available, but no claim of warrantee.

[Lee Chowaniec]

Res, your point is well taken. Of course the totes will mitigate the situation. But, behavioral issues such as not picking-up up pet debris, use of bird feeders, and ground feeding wild life, are the substantial source(s) of the problem, IMHO. Those behavioral issues attract the varmints, and provide a full buffet table. The receptacle is only a "doggy bag" for other left-overs.

Spot on!


Your post reaffirms what many of us have been saying for years. The rats have been around for hundreds of years and will not be significantly diminished by use of totes alone. Individuals / families who slovenly maintain their property or provide other food sources that will nurture rats and other varmints should be held accountable for those infractions. Providing a slacker a tote is not an end-all to controlling the rodent problem. To penalize the great majority of residents that comply with the current code in place and take the necessary steps to avoid drawing rats and other varmints is arbitrary and capricious.

[gorja]

Originally posted by mark blazejewski:
But, behavioral issues such as not picking-up up pet debris, use of bird feeders, and ground feeding wild life, are the substantial source(s) of the problem, IMHO.

As a poster who resides in the VOL who uses totes wrote on the Nextdoor network,

"Dog **** is probably a bigger attractant for rats than garbage but how to do get the situation taken care of when your neighbor works for the dog warden & she doesn’t clean up after her own dogs."

[gorja]

Originally posted by Lee Chowaniec:
Where does one find warranted rat proof garbage totes?

There may not be any with a rat proof warranty but they do have a 10 year warranty on the molded part of the can.
I found the receipt for the last one I purchased on July 13, 2017.
So 8 1/2 years of the warranty will be for naught since it can't be used after February 1, 2019.

[mark blazejewski]

As a poster who resides in the VOL who uses totes wrote on the Nextdoor network,

"Dog **** is probably a bigger attractant for rats than garbage but how to do get the situation taken care of when your neighbor works for the dog warden & she doesn’t clean up after her own dogs."

Regrettably, like in so many situations, that is a big problem, especially the VOL. Codes enforcement appears to have been weaponized two ways: One way to favor family and friends, and a second way to manipulate the unconnected and perceived enemies.

[mark blazejewski]

To penalize the great majority of residents that comply with the current code in place and take the necessary steps to avoid drawing rats and other varmints is arbitrary and capricious.

It reminds me of the outdated disciplinary measure of the 1960s, when a teacher would make the entire class stay after school because one idiot kept cutting up. It only further empowered the class clown, and inappropriately addressed the problem.

Oh well, it could be worse. Some genius may look to the Lidice model.

[gorja]

It reminds me of the outdated disciplinary measure of the 1960s, when a teacher would make the entire class stay after school because one idiot kept cutting up. It only further empowered the class clown, and inappropriately addressed the problem.

Oh well, it could be worse. Some genius may look to the Lidice model.

This idiot had her desk put between the wall and the filing cabinet

[mark blazejewski]

This idiot had her desk put between the wall and the filing cabinet

...and the teacher must have been between a rock and a hard place to manage your energy, and to stifle such a wise and determined voice.

[gorja]

...and the teacher must have been between a rock and a hard place to manage your energy, and to stifle such a wise and determined voice.

Mr Jerome Werblow was a good Junior high English teacher and stifle was the operative word. In fact, he made me play 'Poor Fool' the deaf and dumb Chinese girl in Pearl S Buck's novel "The Good Earth"

I played it to the hilt. My fellow student's heard my mother say that she may have to disown me.

[mark blazejewski]

Mr Jerome Werblow was a good Junior high English teacher and stifle was the operative word. In fact, he made me play 'Poor Fool' the deaf and dumb Chinese girl in Pearl S Buck's novel "The Good Earth"

I played it to the hilt. My fellow student's heard my mother say that she may have to disown me.

My sixth grade teacher would appeal to my leadership and advocacy qualities by locking me and a couple of other guys out of the room when returning from lunch. He would unlock the door only when we were officially tardy. The result of course was after school duty.

Not being one to stand for injustice, my protests went straight to the principle, who admonished the teacher with the observation: "You are a teacher and a coach, and right now, you are not doing either very well."

But, I paid the price for my celebrity leadership when I got home. The teacher was my grandmother's God Child, and my prominence as a mover and shaker at school was sorely diminished in family circles. Ouch!!!