Noteworthy borough news
That's not to say nothing has happened in Elizabethtown. In fact, my last post was about the downtown Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program that the Elizabethtown Chamber of Commerce proposed. In July, the school board approved the LERTA program. The Lancaster County Commissioners followed suit in August.This means three iconic properties in the downtown -- the Moose Lodge, the Elizabethtown Hotel, the former Roth's Furniture (now home of the Shoppes on Market) -- can undergo renovations without bearing the entire weight of taxes on the improvements over 10 years. I'm excited to see how property owners take advantage of the opportunity that can help the business district for many years to come.
Borough Council has also discussed feral cats and skunks. In fact, an episode of the PBS program Nature on skunks makes the argument that there's a connection between skunks and feral cats. It says that people who feed cats could inadvertently be feeding skunks and making the skunk problem worse. The Pennsylvania Game Commission reports residents are able to trap animals on their own property and transport them for release on game lands.
Obviously, that's not something many of us might want to try, in which case the only other option is to hire a licensed/permitted contractor. The costs to set up the trap and for one follow-up visit range from $200 to $400. The Game Commission reports it would be difficult to contract for these services now as it is a very busy time for these professionals.
On the feral cat front, Susan Martin, executive director of the Lancaster County SPCA did a presentation and said wherever there's a problem with feral cats someone is feeding them. And she said unequivocally that "if you feed it, you own it. You're responsible now." The only option for controlling the feral cat population is trapping them and euthanizing or trapping and spaying or neutering and returning the cats to the wild. The SPCA charges $30 to euthanize or sterilize one cat.
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