By JAIME STUDD

Recorder News Staff

For years, the city of Amsterdam has been plagued by the annual influx of some extremely loud and unsanitary visitors, but little has been presented in the way of viable solutions.

Johnstown resident Michael Russo thinks he can rid the city of its unwelcome crow population, and he proposed his solution at Tuesday night's Public Safety Committee meeting.

Russo's plan involves securing a system of microtubing, fitted with emitters, to series of trees in a specifically targeted area. A small box attached to the tubing at the base of the tree would contain a compressed nitrogen tank, a small battery, a timer, a solenoid and a manifold.

In order to string the tubing throughout the trees upper branches, Russo said his son devised an effective system that involved tying the tubing to an arrow and using a bow to shoot it up into the tree.

When pressurized by a nitrogen tank, the tubing emitters spray nitrogen in a 360-degree radius, causing the crows to flee the tree. Some of the emitters also swirl, when pressurized, said Russo, which causes a physical nuisance, as well. The system can be programmed to activate only during the crows' prime roosting hours, which he approximated to be just after dusk to just before dawn.

According to Russo, the system is eco-friendly because the nitrogen is environmentally safe and the tubing causes no harm to the trees. The tubing is also colored to blend in with the bark of a tree to maintain the aesthetics of the targeted area.

Russo said the system will provide the city with a method of ridding itself of the birds with minimal impact to the city and minimal expense.

"The whole object is not to have these birds come back to where we don't want them," said Russo

Because a single control box can serve a string of fifteen trees, Russo argued that the system would provide the city with most effective population control with minimal material.

In a recent e-mail to 1st Ward Alderman Joe Isabel, Russo estimated the cost to be approximately $500 per tree.

Though generally receptive to the plan, some common council members were not without reservations.

Fourth Ward Alderman William Wills argued that crows were fairly "intelligent" creatures, capable of adapting to changing environments, but Russo countered that repeated physical disturbances to their roosting environment would eventually force the crows elsewhere.

The problem said Wills, is that the crows would likely just move elsewhere in the city.

"We just want to get them away from where they cause damage," said Russo.

Because the most consistent complaints about the crows are with respect to a population that has taken to roosting in the wooded area that borders the rear parking lot of city hall and the cemetery, the council agreed that it would be the most appropriate location to test the system.

The council was unsure which specific trees to outfit with the system, as some belong to the city and others to the cemetery, and there was some discussion as to whether permission would be required from cemetery officials to utilize its trees to test the system. Most agreed that cemetery officials would be unlikely to object.

"No, they won't say anything," said Wills, "but you better ask them before you start shooting arrows in the air."

It is expected that Russo will survey the targeted area and submit an official estimate and plan to the council in the near future.

The public safety committee also heard from Isabel with regards to a proposal to install speed control lights in areas of the city prone to speeding vehicles.

The plan involves the purchase of two permanent and two mobile speed control lights that would digitally display a motorist's speed as they passed and would flash red if a a car is traveling at speeds beyond the posted limit.

The plan calls for the permanent signs to be place on Locust Avenue and Route 67; the portable signs would be moved periodically to various other locations throughout the city. The lighted speed control signs are priced at $3,500 each.