Village board determines town trapper can handle village infestation

Last summer three village residents complained about skunks to the board of trustees. The town of Salina trapper was “overwhelmed,” said one resident, and was not responding to calls from villagers plagued by the malodorous black-and-white weasels.

Not so, now say the trustees.

In April, trustees approved a 2013-14 village budget of $2,306,565, but it failed to fund the hiring of a village trapper as the board had informally agreed to do on Aug. 20, 2012.

“That was an honest oversight,” said Mayor Gary White at the board’s monthly meeting on May 20. “When we were preparing the budget, skunks were not in season,” he explained.

After the oversight was noted on the Star-Review’s April 24 editorial page, White assigned Trustee Bob Gaetano to look into the situation. Gaetano, who has himself been plagued by skunks at his Birch Street residence, contacted Salina animal-nuisance wildlife trapper Bill Berry.

“Bill’s available 24 hours a day,” Gaetano said. “He returned my calls promptly, and he told me that the village is a priority.” He charges $20 to install an initial trap and $10 per trap after that. For information, call the town clerk at 457-2710.

“So we found out that we already have a pretty good program in place,” White said.

Last August, Jim Spadafore, a longtime resident of Second Street near the intersection of Outlook, said that the Salina trapper was “overwhelmed” by the magnitude of the skunk infestation town-wide.

Gaetano said that Spadafore’s comment “surprised” Berry.

Spadafore had written a letter to the mayor and attended the Aug. 20 board meeting to lodge his complaint. “The quality of life for my family is being compromised,” wrote Spadafore, a recently retired educator. “I think it’s time for the village of Liverpool to hire their own trapper before a wild animal with rabies attacks a child or a pet.”

On Sept. 17 Elaine Toth, who lives on Tulip Street, reported to the trustees that proliferating skunks “are negatively impacting my property.” Earlier that month, Hiawatha Trail homeowner Christina Fadden Fitch wrote to the mayor to describe her neighborhood’s daytime encounter with a skunk “acting strangely.”

Such concerns have been voiced by Liverpudlians for decades.

Village officials often warn residents not to feed wildlife and to secure trash containers from intrusion by sharp-toothed carnivores.

Skunks destroy gardens and lawns, tear open garbage bags and sometimes spray pets and people. A subfamily to the weasel family, skunks can carry rabies and occasionally distemper.

In two separate incidents in April 2011, Liverpool Police officers shot and killed two skunks which had been behaving oddly in broad daylight. One animal was killed behind a house on Oswego Street, while another was shot a few blocks away on Sixth Street.

Twenty-one parking tickets issued

Liverpool Police Chief Don Morris informed the village board of trustees at their May 20 meeting that officers issued 143 citations for violations of the state’s vehicle and traffic laws during April. In addition, 11 warning tickets were issued for minor motor-vehicle violations.

Three arrests were made for driving while intoxicated, 10 traffic accidents were investigated and 21 parking tickets were issued.

Officers made 241 residential checks during the month while investigating a total of 303 complaints.

During April, LPD officers arrested 24 individuals on a total of 33 criminal charges.