{"id":3988,"date":"2013-02-12T12:05:50","date_gmt":"2013-02-12T17:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=3988"},"modified":"2013-02-12T12:51:07","modified_gmt":"2013-02-12T17:51:07","slug":"coatesville-hoping-to-avert-cat-astrophic-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=3988","title":{"rendered":"Coatesville hoping to avert ‘cat-astrophic’ event"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0City manager: Rising feral feline population becoming problematic<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/span><\/strong>, Managing Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Coatesville<\/a>

Coatesville City Manager Kirby Hudson said he is fielding an increasing number of complaints about the city’s rising feral cat population.<\/p><\/div>\n

Coatesville City Council heard mostly good news at its Monday night meeting \u2013 with the exception of some nagging traffic issues and a looming cat-astrophe.<\/p>\n

The latter was described by City Manager Kirby Hudson, who warned that the city \u201cis going to be overrun\u201d with feral cats unless action is taken. \u201cIt\u2019s becoming a nuisance,\u201d he said, adding that he is fielding an increasing number of complaints.<\/p>\n

For financial reasons, the city eliminated its animal-control officer a while back, Hudson said. One option \u2013 a budget-busting one \u2013 is to contract with the Chester County SPCA for nearly $30,000 a year. Council asked Hudson to get more information on other alternatives.<\/p>\n

Joe Nye, a representative from Clean Water Action, said his agency recently released a report that focused on the ordinances of 25 municipalities in the Brandywine Creek watershed and how the municipalities\u2019 land use rules affect storm water runoff. Out of a possible score of 100, Coatesville received a 64, slightly above the average of 60, Nye said.<\/p>\n

Nye said Clean Water Action would work with the city at no charge to recommend small changes, such as sloping sidewalks toward lawns and reducing pavement needs in new construction by adding compact-car parking spaces. \u201cWe\u2019re here to help,\u201d he said, adding that more information about the group’s initiatives can be found at www.cleanwater.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for Jeannette Hurdle, city officials were extremely helpful to her when the roof of her residence blew off on Jan. 31. Hurdle, who has lived on Coates Street for more than 50 years, said she heard a rumble about 3 a.m., the house shook, and torrential rains began flooding her home. She said she called Acting Fire Chief Jim Lentz and got an immediate response.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo gentleman came out to help,\u201d she said, explaining that they were able to cover the roof with a tarp. Hurdle said she also received an unsolicited call from Police Cpl. Kenneth Michels, who wanted to know if she needed anything else. \u201cI wanted to thank the people who came to my rescue,\u201d Hurdle told City Council, adding that now she\u2019s trying to get her insurance company to expedite repairs.<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/a>

Tim Irwin, a longtime coach who runs a tennis school, said free instruction will be offered from noon to 3 p.m. on May 11 at the 11th Avenue courts.<\/p><\/div>\n

John Pawlowski, a member of the city\u2019s Community Policing Committee, said the committee has received a positive response to inquiries about returning a \u201cpoint of pride\u201d to the city \u2013 a display of veterans\u2019 flags between First and Third Avenue. He said the group would continue to work toward answering questions about cost, which he predicted would be minimal, as well as how the flags would be affixed.<\/p>\n

Hudson announced that a Valentine\u2019s Day \u201cDaddy and Daughter Dance\u201d would take place Saturday between 5 and 7 p.m. at the Community Center. The city\u2019s Park and Recreation Commission organized the dressed-up event \u2013no jeans, sneakers, or t-shirts, Hudson said.<\/p>\n

The city manager also gave council members a positive report on the nearly $2.25 million authorized in 2012 for transfer from the city\u2019s trust fund to meet operating expenses: Not all of it was needed. Hudson said $219,371.98 was not transferred.<\/p>\n

All that\u2019s needed on May 11 is an interest in learning more about tennis, said Tim Irwin, owner and founder of the Coatesville Tennis School. Irwin, who coaches the Coatesville High School Girl’s Tennis Team and the Bishop Shanahan Boy’s Tennis Team, said a group of area professional instructors will converge on the 11th<\/sup> Avenue tennis courts from noon to 3 p.m. to serve up free lessons, Irwin said.<\/p>\n

The no-strings-attached offer has no age restrictions, Irwin said. Tennis, anyone?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0City manager: Rising feral feline population becoming problematic By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times Coatesville City Council heard mostly good news at its Monday night meeting \u2013 with the exception of some nagging traffic issues and a looming cat-astrophe. The latter was described by City Manager Kirby Hudson, who warned that the city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[372,792,1450,24,437,1520,1519,1521],"class_list":["post-3988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-chester-county-spca","tag-city-manager-kirby-hudson","tag-clean-water-action","tag-coatesville","tag-community-policing-committee","tag-john-pawlowski","tag-police-cpl-kenneth-michels","tag-tim-irwin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}