Shutesbury Board of Selectmen February 2, 2010 Meeting Minutes Members present: Chairwoman Elaine Puleo and Al Springer. (One vacancy on the Board) Also present: Select Board candidate April Stein and Administrative Secretary Leslie Bracebridge. Town Administrator Rebecca Torres was absent due to illness. Meeting opened at 6:40 P.M. Topics 1. At 7:36 PM Chairman Puleo opened a dog hearing for Leonard Road resident Steve Marglin’s dog “Mendy” in the presence of Chris Benvenuto, Mare Fox, Dorothy Morua, Claudia Gere and Sgt. Justin Wall. All present were sworn to speak truthfully in the hearing. Sgt. Wall summarized a complaint against Mendy that was reported to the Police Department: * Someone reported running past the Marglin property at 9 AM, and Mendy came out aggressively. She tried to get the dog to go away but the dog wouldn’t leave, * Officer Wall spoke with Mr. Marglin who stated that the dog had been loose and that Mr. Marglin had been pre-occupied with his horses. * Chairman Puleo self-disclosed that she has been aggressively greeted by Mendy in the middle of the road at least 5 times with no one present to control the dog. She added that she is afraid of dogs and Mendy picks up on her fear and reacts aggressively. * Selectman Springer self-disclosed that he is a neighbor of some people who sent in a complaint concerning Mendy but will not let that influence his consideration of the hearing. Mr. Marglin was asked, “What can be done to keep the dog compliant with the bylaws?” Mr. Marglin answered that Mendy has been on a leash except when it walks with Mr. Marglin because Mendy responds reliably to Mr. Marglin’s voice commands. Further: * Mr. Marglin took responsibility for miscommunication with his housemate, “Terry” who has been doing the morning walk: After Mr. Marglin walks Mendy, he puts Mendy in the house before he attends to the horses in the barn. Terry did not understand this and was leaving Mendy to run free while the horses were tended to. Terry now understands to put Mendy in the house before going to the barn to tend to the horses. * Also, Terry now keeps Mendy on a leash for the morning walk. * Mr. Marglin stated that he would be installing an electric fence in the spring when the ground thaws and will continue with the leash walks and putting Mendy in the house before going to the barn in the meantime. * Mr. Marglin agreed that Mendy should not be scaring people. Others present made statements: * Mare Fox: Reports that she runs by the Marglin property 2 or 3 times a week and has never experienced any of this. She described Mendy as “other worldly, he’s the gentlest dog,” and that “My three kids could ride on him, he’s so gentle.” * To Sgt. Wall’s inquiry about a reported bite in another community, Chris Benvenuto reported that she was walking Mendy on a leash in Pelham, when a bicyclist came up to them, got off his bike and started screaming, “He bit me.” Ms. Benvenuto stated that the bicyclist did not need to stop the bike; he could have gone right by. * Claudia Gere: A lot of people feed Mendy biscuits as they go by, which isn’t helping the efforts being made to train Mendy to stay away from the road and in the yard. * Officer Wall believes everything said about Mendy, but stated, “We need to allow for the exceptions; everyone should be able to walk on the road.” * Mr. Marglin: “Mendy’s never been allowed to just be outside.” * April Stein: Frequently runs the road; Mendy has come out aggressively; and there has been no one in the yard to call him back. * Dorothy Morua: When she had complained of frightening experiences with Mendy, Mr. Marglin had chastised her about how friendly his dog is. She didn’t feel Mr. Marglin really understood that it was “really scary” that Mendy would attack her dog. o In September Mendy chased Dorothy’s mother-in-law, “Vieira” who would have been present tonight except that she had to work. Vieira had been walking her 2 little dogs and was chased by Mendy all the way back to Vieira’s own front door with one of her own little dogs under each arm. o Mendy was out every morning. Dorothy must now always walk in the other direction. o Mendy comes after the van and other cars. o Dorothy can’t trust the Rottweiler. Hearing conclusion: * Selectman Springer trusts that Mr. Marglin will follow through with the fence installation. He instructed Mr. Marglin to send a copy of a receipt to the town that proves that the fence has been installed. * Chairman Puleo: Defines a leash as better than voice control. Mr. Marglin: * Reports that he does let Mendy out at night when he goes to the barn; o Mendy always runs into the back woods and never in the other direction. o Mendy always comes back when Mr. Marglin is done with the horses. o Mendy’s not literally under voice control at those times. * In the daytime Mr. Marglin always has a leash with him. o Mendy’s never gone off, and is always in Mr. Marglin’s sight. Selectman Puleo: Understands voice control; dogs do go after other dogs. Selectman Puleo wants to see Mendy put on a leash. Chris Benvenuto: “Terry” told Chris that a woman had stated that her husband had a gun at home, in front of children. Mare Fox: This scared the kids. They were afraid to stay there in case someone came back to shoot the dogs. Dorothy Morua: Stated that the woman who said her husband had a gun at home regrets saying that. Dorothy explained that the woman was scared and asked for help with the dog that was acting aggressively toward her and instead, the woman at the Marglin property got into a car and drove away. The hearing was closed at 7:58 PM. 2. Selectmen do not need to go to the February 3 Recycling Committee meeting; the Recycling Committee will send representatives to the February 16 Select Board meeting. 3. No executive session was called regarding M-30. 4. A letter will be written to the Franklin County Cooperative Inspection Program. Select Board Action Items 1. Selectmen signed vendor warrants totaling $476,868.50. 2. Selectmen signed payroll warrants totaling $85,495.93. 3. Selectmen unanimously voted to approve the minutes of January 25, 2010 as written. 4. A letter will be written to the Franklin County Cooperative Inspection Program. New Topics 1. On Tuesday, February 9 Selectmen are going to the offices of the Department of Environmental Protection at 436 Dwight Street in Springfield for a follow-up meeting to the January 14 meeting concerning the soil contamination at the Fire Station. 2. There is an Amherst Regional Schools 4-towns meeting of the Select Boards, School and Finance Committees this Saturday, February 6 at 9 AM at the Amherst Middle School Library. Selectmen agreed to hold a meeting of the Shutesbury committee members present at 8:30 AM in a side area of the Middle School Library. 3. Selectmen unanimously voted to sign a Chapter 90 Project Reimbursement Request in the amount of $6,014.49 to spread hard pack gravel on shoulders of West Pelham Road for 7,550 feet to reinforce new pavement. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously voted to adjourn at 8:06 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Leslie Bracebridge Administrative Secretary 100202 Selectboard 1