Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Photos | EverythingWestport.com except as noted
Animal
Action Committee to propose animal registry and annual permits.
Super Bowl Walk Draws Crowd of Over Two
Hundred.
Westport’s Joseph Ingoldsby
speaks out on WUMD sale.
|
Animal Action Committee to propose animal registry
and annual permits. Board of Health member
William Harkins said that substantial discussions on the potential adoption
of new animal regulations by his board would probably have to wait until
after the annual election in April. EverythingWestport.com Saturday,
February 18, 2017 Photos
| EverythingWestport.com
Special
Correspondent to EverythingWestport.com WESTPORT – The town’s Animal Action Committee has decided to move forward
with drafting potential policies for a town-wide registry of all domestic
animals, and a requirement for annual permitting of such animals for
consideration by town officials, and possibly, town meeting voters. Dogs and cats are not included. At their February 13th meeting, the committee indicated it would ask
the town administrator to come up with a plan for implementing a registry,
and develop a realistic budget to cover an annual permitting process,
including town inspections and potential enforcement activities. Policy issues, such as whether local animal inspectors or the town
Animal Control Department would be responsible for maintaining the registry,
and conducting annual inspections needed for town permits, will be discussed
at the next meeting, committee chair Shana Shufelt
said.
Above: from the left: AAC members Sgt.Tony Cestodio, Chairwoman and Selectman Shana Shufelt,
and William Harkins, Chairman Board of Health. A chain of command also needs to be established, with either selectmen
or the Board of Health assigned to supervise the inspection and permitting
process, the Board of Selectmen’s delegate to the Animal Action Committee
suggested. Because neighboring Dartmouth already has an effective permitting
policy in place for keeping domestic animals, Dartmouth Public Health
Director Christopher Michaud is being invited to come to the committee’s next
meeting to talk about how Dartmouth handles permitting and inspection issues,
Shufelt said. “I would like to see them (domestic
animals) all registered without a fee... that would make for more compliance, I
would think.” - AAC Chair, Shana
Shufelt
Inset: ACO member Jay Tripp Inspection
man-hours and administrative time would be considerable, and the budget would
have to be expanded for annual permitting, indicated Animal Control Officer
Donna Lambert. She estimated several hundred residents were probably keeping
some kinds of animals on their property, and each permit issued would require
an annual barn visit by an animal inspector. With a
hypothetical $10,000 per year expense, the salary and administrative costs
could be covered by a town meeting appropriation from the General Fund, or
from permitting fees, Shufelt said. “I would like
to see them all registered without a fee... that would make for more
compliance, I would think,” she told the rest of the advisory
committee. Board
of Health member William Harkins said that substantial discussions on the
potential adoption of new animal regulations by his committee would probably
have to wait until after the annual election in April. Two new members will
be coming aboard in that election, and “it’s only fair to wait for them to be
involved,” he suggested. “We
have to be very careful when we write these regulations... to make sure we’re
not stepping on anyone’s toes.” BOH Chair
William Harkins Lambert
doesn’t feel there should be any conflict between local regulations and Right
to Farm policies when it comes to clear cases of animal abuse or neglect. “A
violation is a violation, there’s no difference if it’s a Right to Farm
community or not,” she insisted. A
survey of other towns in the region that might have animal permitting
policies on the books will also be conducted before
any potential recommendations are debated and finalized.
Most
of her time as the ACO is spent dealing with wild
animal complaints, feral cats, dog bites, and dog licensing issues, Lambert
indicated. Once a year, the animal inspector also does barn visits to
properties where cows, equine animals, and swine are being raised, reporting
the annual “census” to the state agency. Some
kind of town registry of all livestock, including poultry, goats and swine,
is a good idea, Lambert said. “We do need to come up with some kind of
policies and regulations” to identify sites and ensure legal access for
inspections, she suggested. At
present, the Board of Health only requires local permits for swine and equine
stables of four or more animals. Shufelt would like
to see goats, poultry, sheep and cattle added to the list, with annual
inspections required for all animal growing sites. Now,
in many cases, “we don’t know where the animals are,” she noted. “We do need
some form of registration,” whether or not the annual inspection and “permit”
comes with a fee, she added. Advisory committee member Sgt. Tony
Cestodio said he would like to see an inspection requirement as part of the registration
and permitting process. The inspection provision gives a town animal
inspector the right to visit the premises for an annual inspection;
inspectors don’t have the authority to issue citations for violations,
however. In
Dartmouth, Board of Health inspectors investigate animal complaints, and
potential abuse cases. That town’s regulations require contact info on the
designated owner, and two alternate custodians, for every permitted animal.
That allows for quick action when problems arise, Shufelt
indicated. Lambert
(pictured right) agreed that would help with enforcement issues, and urged
that the contact information requirements would be part of any policy
recommendations. At
present, the ACO office seeks to use an “education
first” policy with animal owners who don’t comply with licensing regulations,
or may need some guidance on “best practices” for animal care, Lambert said.
Often, the Agricultural Commission is asked to work with the owners to
resolve critical issues, she indicated. Super Bowl Walk Draws Crowd of Over Two Hundred. EverythingWestport.com Monday,
February 13, 2017
This
was the largest turnout ever for the annual event which traverses 6+ miles
from the Slocum’s River to the Westport River. The
annual event began a decade prior as a means to highlight the public value of
a Slocum’s River to Westport River Greenway. Though
it has not yet been achieved, the greenway project has been a collaborative
effort between private and public organizations to create a continuous 6-mile
expanse of protected land extending from river to river. Protected lands open
to the public along the Super Bowl Walk route currently include the Slocum’s
River Reserve and the Dartmoor Farm Wildlife
Management Area. WLCT
and DNRT thank their event partners at Sylvan
Nursery, Westport Rivers Winery and Whaling City Transit as well as the many
private landowners who helped to make this walk possible. For more
information on upcoming public hikes and events near your, visit
WestportLandTrust.org or DNRT.org. These programs are made possible by the
generous contributions of individuals like you. Westport’s
Joseph Ingoldsby speaks out on
WUMD sale. EverythingWestport.com Sunday,
February 19, 2017 “UMass Dartmouth's WUMD-FM has been a beacon of
light presenting innovative and informative local programming for SouthCoast and beyond for 45 years. This light is about
to be extinguished with the secretive and non-deliberative sale of 89.3 FM to
Rhode Island Public Radio, an affiliate of National Public Radio. We are told
the fire sale price is $1.5 million, which is 0.6 percent of the UMass
Dartmouth's 2017 annual budget. The sale will bring a standardization of programming and a repetition
of viewpoints already available at WGBH-FM and WCAI-FM. Lost will be our morning current affairs and
progressive news broadcasting. The voices for change will be censored. Gone will be the international music and foreign language programs of
the world, from Celtic to Balkan to Brazilian to Reggae and uniquely American
genres of folk, jazz, blues, rock 'n' roll, garage bands, electronica, and
local talent, underrepresented in mainstream and commercial programming. The
music will be silenced. Original programming for children and for the blind, science programs,
environmental reporting from the front lines, interviews with national
experts in food, health and agriculture, science reporting and the media will
be lost to NPR standardized programming. This is a great loss for SouthCoast and for the intellectual growth of the UMass
Dartmouth community, which has been well served by WUMD
over the years. Massachusetts taxpayers paid for UMass Dartmouth's WUMD,
which was to broadcast inclusive public interest and local programming
representing the diversity of the university's students and faculty as well
as the surrounding communities. WUMD 89.3 will be
sold to an out-of-state corporation. Let us keep local independent radio
local WUMD's SouthCoast listeners ask that University of Massachusetts
President Marty Meehan, the UMass Dartmouth trustees and administration, our
state legislators, and the Federal Communications Commission reconsider the
sale of our local college radio station, FCC File No. 20170104AAT.
Don't let this bright light be extinguished.” Contact: UMass President, Marty Meehan mmeehan@umassp.edu; UMass, Trustee R. Norman Peters, Esq. Peters & Sowyrda,
255 Park Avenue #1100, Worchester, MA 01609; Vice Chancellor John Hoey jhoey@umassd.edu;
Rep. Paul Schmid, paul.schmid@mahouse.gov;
Sen. Mark Montigny, mark.montigny@masenate.gov and the
FCC with your comments and concerns. UMass Dartmouth graduate, Joseph Ingoldsby
writes and exhibits on natural and cultural landscapes, science, biodiversity
and climate change. He lives in Westport. © 2017 Community Events of
Westport. All rights reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
