Members of the West Windsor Township Council told supporters of former animal control officer Bettina Roed on April 4 that they would stick by their original decision to contract with East Windsor for animal control services.
Roed’s supporters came out for the fourth meeting on the matter to try to persuade the township to reverse its March 7 decision to contract with East Windsor, effectively laying off Roed.
The council had agreed to hold another discussion on the matter during its March 21 meeting, when Charles Morgan asked the council to discuss possibly reinstating Roed without breaking the contract with East Windsor.
West Windsor decided to contract with East Windsor after Plainsboro
pulled out of its agreement with West Windsor for animal control services in favor of a cheaper contract with Helmetta.
While Morgan asked on April 4 for a financial analysis of the decision to contract with East Windsor, council members and Business Administrator Robert Hary said a financial analysis was provided in January in executive session when the council first began evaluating the contract with East Windsor. Hary shared the information with Morgan again.
Council President Kamal Khanna said at a prior meeting that when Plainsboro pulled out of the agreement, the administration presented council with a list of alternatives. It was done in executive session because it was a personnel issue. The council, in turn, gave guidelines to the administration. When the administration brought the East Windsor agreement to the table, the administration told the council what would happen, and then the council voted, he said.
The lost revenue from Plainsboro created the problem, Business Administrator Robert Hary said at an earlier meeting. He said Police Chief Joseph Pica called neighboring municipalities to try to get them
to be the purchaser of shared services, rather than the provider, but
none were interested. East Windsor became the best fit, he said.
Under the contract with East Windsor, there is an hourly rate of $65 for the East Windsor officer to respond to calls in West Windsor during the day that involve investigating and processing reports or complaints of animal bites, appearing in court, transporting animals to the kennel, and providing rabies clinic assistance. Between 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m., and on holidays and weekends, the fee is $90 per hour.
Officials estimated that West Windsor would save about $40,000 in the first year of the agreement with East Windsor.
