Boro's animal control officer in high demand

Brandon Metz often begins his day at 9 a.m. cutting grass in Helmetta as a laborer for the town.

He'll spend a full day not only maintaining borough grounds, but until 1 a.m. can be found wrangling the stray animals of several Middlesex County towns as an interlocal animal control officer.

"It's crazy — I could be cutting grass one minute and picking up cats in South River the next," Metz said. "I don't get much rest, but I like it. It makes the time go by quickly."

Metz, a Helmetta employee since 1995, handles animal control services in Spotswood and was recently appointed to the same task in both Sayreville and South River. He also serves Monroe on an emergency basis. The towns have entered into contracts for the work through interlocal agreements with Helmetta, a shared services arrangement designed to save costs for all those involved.

Metz said he handles 99 percent of all animal control calls that come from these towns. His backup is Darren Doran, Helmetta's public works director and sewer operator, who takes over animal control when Metz is on vacation.

Doran attested to Metz's busy schedule.

"Since we're dealing with many towns, we sometimes have to prioritize what's important when we have a lot of calls," Doran said. "Certain things need to be addressed immediately, like animals that are hurt. Nuisance complaints then have to be pushed aside."

The constant calls, coupled with his responsibilities in public works, cause Metz to work offbeat hours and go far into overtime.

"But I really like animal control," he said. "I'm always interacting with good people, and I do get some interesting calls."

Metz mostly deals with stray cats and rodents, but some of his more dangerous assignments have included vicious dogs and snakes such as the boa constrictor. The strangest call he's ever received was an alligator, he said.

"A bunch of kids snuck back an alligator from Florida to their parents' house in Spotswood. I don't know how they got it there, but it was pretty hard to get him out," Metz said. "I definitely never had to deal with an alligator before then."

The certified animal control officer said he never traps wildlife, but instead relocates those types of animals to a more suitable environment. However, strays and surrendered animals from four of the five towns he covers are passed to the Sayreville Pet Adoption Center, a nonprofit, no-kill shelter on Main Street that tries to find homes for stray or unwanted cats and dogs.

Sayreville Business Administrator Jeffry Bertrand said his borough drew up an interlocal agreement with Helmetta after it was recommended by officials in South River. So far, Bertrand said, Sayreville officials are pleased with the animal control services of Metz and Doran.

"They're very low-key, down to Earth, and most importantly, they've been really responsive," Bertrand said. "They're just great to work with."Metz replaced an animal control officer who served Sayreville for over 30 years. When that employee retired, Sayreville officials decided to pursue an interlocal agreement as a cost-saving measure. According to Bertrand, the borough anticipates savings of $10,000 annually.

According to the interlocal agreements, Helmetta will receive annual charges of $28,800, $9,500 and $5,727 from Sayreville, South River and Spotswood, respectively, for the animal control services. There is an additional charge of $50 for each call outside of normal business hours.

Animal control is not the only shared service that the small borough of Helmetta provides. Mayor Nancy Martin, who is Metz's mother, said that other major shared service agreements include code enforcement for Spotswood and sewer operation services for Jamesburg. The borough benefits from other types of interlocal agreements with East Brunswick, South Brunswick, Jamesburg, Spotswood and Middlesex County, for services such as police dispatch, recycling pickup, and solid waste disposal and pickup.

"We're really the model town for shared services," Metz said. "We're cutting costs for other towns while still being able to stay afloat ourselves."

Martin also emphasized the benefit that interlocal agreements have on the community.

"The borough has and continues to reach out to our neighbors to see how we can benefit each other," she said.

Martin has expressed frustration with state officials such as Gov. Jon Corzine for cutting state aid and forcing the consolidation of local school districts, all part of an effort, she believes, to eliminate small towns such as Helmetta. Martin has argued that smaller towns tend to operate more efficiently than larger ones.

"It's disturbing when we hear how little towns should not exist, but Helmetta is an example of one that had many shared service agreements long before the state decided to start cutting aid to municipalities," she said.

Martin credited the borough's success to its employees. While there are only five employees who each cover several roles for the municipality, they are ambitious and hardworking, Martin said.

"Although they fall under a union, they have never said, 'I'm not doing it because it isn't my job,'" she said. "Whenever something has to be done, not only do our public work employees step up to the plate, but our office employees do too."