Twin Rivers officials respond to rat complaints

By Matt Chiappardi, Staff Writer
   EAST WINDSOR — The Twin Rivers Homeowners Association doesn’t have a pied piper on its payroll. But there are at least a handful residents who say they might need one.
   Members of about four local households brought their complaint to the association board of trustees last week. They asserted that they have seen about a dozen rats wandering around their homes over the past month.
   ”I see them every day, going through garbage, in the Dumpster; it’s disgusting,” said Bolton Road resident Mindy Russ, who spoke while other neighbors stood with her.
   She and some of her neighbors asked the board to do something about what they call an “infestation” but board President Scott Pohl said the association’s options are limited.
   ”We can’t go out and put traps on private property,” he said.
   However, Mr. Pohl added that the association is willing to explore putting traps in common areas and urged all Twin Rivers residents to be more careful about how and when they throw out their trash.
   ”Don’t put your garbage out before nine in morning, like we ask, and make sure it’s tied up, so trash doesn’t get all over the place,” he said.
   He also told residents to be careful about where and how people set traps because he believed they could become a legal liability if children or pets were to be harmed by them.
   Mr. Pohl and the association maintenance manager, Tom Curry, did wonder aloud if the rodents could be coming from neighboring condominium community American Way, and said they would be in contact with that development’s management to see if there is some way to tackle the issue together..
   American Way’s owner Rich Selkow said Thursday that the rats are, “not coming from American Way, otherwise the township would have told us otherwise. The problem is in Twin Rivers.”
   He added that he has had ongoing contact with Mr. Pohl and Mr. Curry about the issue.
   For her part, Ms. Russ said she attributes the rats to a recent decision by township police to remove some stray cats from the area. She said she started noticing the pests shortly after police told her the cats were taken away.
   Police Chief William Spain acknowledged that two cats were removed from the area in late September. One cat appeared to be ill, and was taken to a local veterinarian, he said. The other was brought to a local kennel, he added.