West Stockbridge — The Select Board unanimously voted June 17 for a measure that would remove from a town meeting vote an approval of the town’s dog park project after funds were appropriated during a previous session. Select Board member Andrew Krouss was not in attendance.
The issue stemmed from a May 6 Town Meeting during which the public’s discussion focused on a proposal to appropriate $25,000 to the Dog Park Advisory Committee for the project’s design, with those funds representing a required 10 percent match to obtain a $250,000 grant for the overall budget. Although the article ultimately passed, an amendment was added for another vote to be taken at a Special Town Meeting that would finalize the project following residents questioning the benefit of a local dog park—specifically, the health of the dogs, the town’s liability should an injury occur, and the burden on the town of maintaining such an investment.
Dog Park Advisory Committee co-Chair Michael Bolognino approached the dais requesting a town meeting not be required for another vote on the project.
The Select Board approved the committee on October 16 and immediately began searching for funding for the project via a grant from the state, he said. On January 1, members received notice that the dog park was approved for a “massive grant” of $275,000, with $25,000 of that appropriated for the park’s design and the remainder, $250,000, for its construction. According to Bolognino, the state grant required a $25,000 grant from the town, with those local funds approved by the West Stockbridge Community Preservation Committee.
“Since then, we’ve been really committed to introducing the project to the people in our town,” Bolognino said, adding that the group has held 12 public meetings at Town Hall, conducted a public forum in February, and widely promoted the project. On March 25, the committee presented the results of its feasibility study to the Select Board, identifying four possible locations for the dog park, with the Select Board approving Town Hall for its site, pending a special permit from the Planning Board.
Addressing the residents’ concerns voiced at the Town Meeting, Bolognino told the Select Board that the plan for the park is to self-fund its needs with donations and establish a nonprofit group as the committee’s “main fundraising arm.” Regarding liability, he said the town’s insurance will cover the dog park and the group will comply with its requirements such as posting rules of the park on site. Additionally, the members will follow standard protocols for dog safety in parks, including staffing volunteers for cleanups and a veterinarian for consultation.
“At the Town Meeting, there was a motion adopted to hold a new public meeting and a vote on the existence of the dog park,” Bolognino said. “We were later informed, through [Town Administrator] Marie [Ryan], that town counsel said [the vote] was actually not a legal requirement for the park to exist.”
Given the public meetings, forum, and outreach performed by the committee to enlighten residents about the project, he said the group’s recommendation is to not hold another town meeting for the dog park to advance. Additionally, the committee will continue to share its plans with the public and is taking a booth to do so at the July 18 West Stockbridge Farmers Market and August Zucchini Festival.
Select Board Chair Andrew Potter asked Bolognino whether the group has looked at other parks and how their towns are involved. Bolognino and other committee members replied that the group has consulted Pittsfield and Brewster, municipalities that received the same grant.
Select Board member Kathleen Keresey pointed out that although the town’s insurance will cover the dog park, no increase in insurance rates will result. “My feeling is that it was somewhat of an administrative snafu, if you can call it that,” she said of the Town Meeting’s May vote.
She said town counsel informed her and Ryan that such an additional vote was “an out-of-the-ordinary suggestion” and “it was a mistake for that to be approved by the [Town Meeting] moderator.”
“In hindsight, perhaps there was some confusion at the moment, but the town did vote to approve the $25,000 the Community Preservation Committee had previously approved,” Keresey said. “So, I would suggest we just move ahead and agree that the town, with its two-thirds vote, approved the money. It’s too confusing that we would have yet another Town Meeting because to what effect, really. So, my suggestion would be to go with the vote that the residents made at the Annual Town Meeting.”
At the session, the Select Board also appointed Keresey to the Fire/EMS Committee, as well as Toby Casey and Gunnar Gudmundson as alternate members of the Zoning Board of Appeals and approved James Ryan as a new officer in the West Stockbridge Police Department.
