Bird Bike Share – eScooter and eBike

Electric bikes and scooters could be available to rent in Jamestown this summer.

Jamestown City Council heard a presentation by Bird Bike Share, who has proposed a pilot program in the city.

Bird Bike Share currently has programs in Dunkirk and other municipalities around New York State.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said bringing ebikes and scooters to the area would be a way to increase mobility for those who do not have cars, or good access to public transportation.

He said New York State passed a law in 2020 making eBikes and eScooters legal, “The program itself, when we were originally looking at it, the city was considering starting its own bike share program which had a lot of upfront capital costs. In this scenario, in this partnership, Bird actually provides all of that capital. They also hire a local operator to manage and take care of those bikes and scooters. And then the city receives a portion of the revenue on each of those rides.”

Sundquist said the pricing would have an initial fee and then a 49-cents per minute fee after that. He said the program would also offer community pricing where those who have an EBT card could receive a reduced rate. Pre-paid cards could also be used for rental in cases where someone doesn’t have a debit or credit card.

Sundquist said the bikes and scooters would be limited to operation within the city of Jamestown.

Council tabled a resolution to contract with BusPatrol for the installation and management of a bus stop arm camera program.

City Council had previously authorized a Bus Stop Arm camera program to catch violations of motorists passing buses when the stop arm is out.

BusPatrol would outfit the Jamestown Public School district’s bus fleet at no cost, with the City receiving a share of the fine money. The Jamestown School Board passed the proposal in February.

Corporation Counsel Elliot\ Raimondo recommended that council table the measure for further review.

Public Safety Committee Chair Brent Sheldon said that 239 feral cats were spayed or neutered under the Community Cat Program in 2022, “151 had the surgeries done at Operation Pets in Buffalo and 88 were done at the Chautauqua County Humane Society. That did result in some savings there because they didn’t have to do the transportation and everything, so they saved approximately $1,841 on that.”

Sheldon said between the City’s allocation of $5,000 toward the program in 2022, a Chautauqua Region Community Foundation grant of $8,000, and donations of $3,000; the Chautauqua County Humane Society had enough funds for the program. He added that the City has also allocated $5,000 for the program in 2023.

Senior Programs Director Brian Papalia said the shelter plans to continue its Trap, Neuter, Vaccination, and Return; or TNVR, program for this year, “What we’re looking for is people who be able to work with us in the sense that they can come in and borrow a trap or traps from us. They can trap the cats, bring the cats in so they can be done, and also, afterwards, help us make sure the cats get the proper aftercare they need before they get released back to where they were found.”

Papalia said the Humane Society is doing some of the spaying and neutering in house while still working with Operation Pets in Blasdell for surgeries.

According to cats.org.uk, an unspayed cat may have between 4 to 8 kittens in a litter.

In April 2022, Jamestown City Council approved an ordinance to establish a Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Return (TNVR) program for feral cats in the city in addition to voting to contract with the Chautauqua County Humane Society for $5,000 to run that program.

Papalia said the Humane Society is still accepting financial donations to help with the program. Visit chqhumane.org for more information.

Chautauqua County Human Society Executive Director Kellie Roberts presents to City Council Public Safety Committee

Jamestown City Council members learned more about a proposed program and ordinance to reduce the number of feral cats in the city.

Chautauqua County Humane Society‘s Executive Director Kellie Roberts presented on the Trap, Neuter, Vaccination, and Return; or TNVR, program. She said community cats are cats that are not owned, “So they may be feral, you know, not tamed cats, or they may be friendly cats that just don’t have a home. And we know that they are all around the city and some people are taking care of them right now. But we have been working on this ordinance to make it more official. That it’s okay to do that and what the rules are for that type of program.”

Roberts said the lack of veterinary services in the area made it hard to get the program going before, but were able to arrange surgery slots with Operation Pets in Blasdell, New York that only cost $25 per cat, “And the way that the program works, is that folks in the community who we call colony caregivers, you know they feed these cats, they take care of them, watch out for them, a lot of animals have been spayed and neutered on their own as it is already. So we want to help them and we want to let people know it’s okay to do that.”

Roberts said the Humane Society estimates the cost of the two-year pilot program to be $16,000 and has applied for grants from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation to go toward that in addition to the proposed $5,000 from the City. The City’s funding is already in the 2022 budget. Roberts said while the pilot program will only take place in Jamestown, the Humane Society will continue to help cats found outside of the city at their Strunk Road location.

Public Safety Committee Chair Brent Sheldon said the program is a way to humanely reduce the number of stray cats in Jamestown, “And also to reduce the number of rabid animals. It’s very expensive. If you’re bitten by a stray cat, they cannot catch that cat to be treated for rabies, so that would be a cost savings there. Some of you may have seen that there was a rabid fox in Washington D.C. over the weekend that bit, I believe, nine people. So we’ve been fortunate that we haven’t had a lot of rabid animals in Chautauqua County but there are some programs out there that can help reduce those numbers.”

Council’s Finance and Public Safety Committees also approved two resolutions using American Rescue Plan funding to purchase 75 new service duty pistols in the amount of $9,643 and $40,000 to purchase mobile data terminals for 12 police vehicles.