[ back ]
BLOOMINGDALE - Boro's animal control to service additional town
(by Deborah Walsh - Staff Writer - July 23, 2008)
BLOOMINGDALE - The borough has found out that nothing breeds success like success with its animal control service, which keeps growing.
North Caldwell will be the latest town receiving animal control services from Bloomingdale beginning on Aug. 1. North Caldwell will pay an annual fee of $16,372 for these services, which will be prorated for the Aug. 1 through Dec. 31 timeframe.
At a recent borough council meeting, Borough Administrator Ted Ehrenburg said the borough might have to consider hiring a second part-time animal control officer. The part-timer already hired by the borough is working out well, he said.
In addition to North Caldwell, another municipality “is on the fence” in deciding if it wants Bloomingdale to provide animal control services. Bloomingdale already serves Ringwood, Wanaque, Pompton Lakes, Butler and Riverdale.
“It’s nice to see shared services work well,” said Mayor William Steenstra when North Caldwell was added to the borough’s list.
Back in May, the borough approved one part-time animal control officer to assist Lisa Perry, the borough’s animal control officer, because service hours in Bloomingdale’s coverage area had increased and the coverage area itself expanded.
In May, Ehrenburg noted that animal control services provided by Bloomingdale for Ringwood had moved from part-time to full-time. Additionally, the borough was in the process of discussing providing animal control services to two more towns, he said.
“Lisa Perry does an outstanding job. There’s none as professional and caring as she,” said Ehrenburg. “Just with the six towns we have now, she is available 24-7. She can’t maintain that pace with the calls we get.”
Ehrenburg said he was looking to add one part-timer at first to assist on call-outs. The part-timer would be paid $20 per hour for a minimum of three hours per call-out. Ehrenburg said that might seem expensive, but it is very burdensome to be on-call. He suggested trying it over the summer months.
In addition to providing Bloomingdale with animal control services, the borough also serves Butler, Wanaque, Riverdale, Pompton Lakes and Ringwood. According to Donna Mollineaux, the borough’s chief financial officer, the towns are charged based on population. The towns pay $2.22 per person. The smallest municipality pays Bloomingdale $5,546, and the largest town pays $22,791.
In April, Ehrenburg said he wanted to hire two part-timers to supplement Perry, who sometimes receives multiple simultaneous calls. The part-timers, considered for hire, are certified in animal control. Ehrenburg said Perry went through the applications submitted for part-time animal control officer positions. Perry picked the top two candidates, but the council ended up going with one part-timer initially.
Ehrenburg said Perry has provided numerous animal control services including handling calls involving domesticated and wild animals. She also responds to animal bite complaints and sometimes must quarantine animals and provide shelter services. Perry runs rabies clinics as well, he said.
[ back ]
