OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford A Bird scooter on the ground at Willowbrook Park Cemetery in Dunkirk Wednesday morning. The scooter service is reportedly set to pull out of Dunkirk.

A month after getting kicked out of Fredonia, the Bird scooter service is reportedly set to pull out of Dunkirk.

Dunkirk Planning and Development Director Vince DeJoy told the Common Council Tuesday that Fredonia’s move had a role in the decision. Fredonia’s Board of Trustees voted to terminate the village’s contract with Bird in July.

“It appears that the fleet manager that was dealing with Dunkirk, the same one that was dealing with Fredonia — when Fredonia ended their relationship with Bird scooters, it seemed to have ended the relationship with the fleet manager,” DeJoy said.

“It looks like there’s a good potential in the next 10 days they’ll be removing all the scooters because there isn’t a viable fleet manager,” he added.

However, DeJoy said the city of Jamestown is considering adding the service, and Bird “is looking to determine if they would be willing to also manage a fleet here if the city of Dunkirk decides to continue to pursue this Bird scooter agreement.”

Two Dunkirk council members commented negatively about Bird Tuesday.

“I’m sure everyone notices the difference between management of last year and this year,” said Natalie Luczkowiak. “What a disappointment, even though the weather is no help this summer. I personally complained on the Bird app and I know Vince has emailed the manager about that program this year.”

Andy Woloszyn, a Dunkirk resident, managed the local Bird scooter fleet when it started in Dunkirk and Fredonia in 2022. It was taken over by an Orchard Park resident this year.

Nancy Nichols said, “It’s wonderful news to hear about those scooters. I’m so tired of hearing people calling me (that) they’re in their front yard, they’re leaning up against a fire hydrant, they’re all over the city. It’s terrible… They’re being used, but they’re also being abused. The situation is out of control.”

Nichols was initially a big supporter of Bird. When the service made its May 2022 Dunkirk debut, she posed with a scooter in a photo she submitted to the OBSERVER.

DeJoy said to Nichols that the service could be useful with a good fleet manager.

There were only two scooters available to rent in Dunkirk as of Wednesday morning, according to Bird’s online app. One of them was in Willowbrook Park Cemetery on Central Avenue. In its brief heyday, the service offered about 30 scooters in the city.

The app showed no scooters left in Fredonia.