Cheshire Looking to Prevent Feeding of Nuisance Geese
 Chairwoman Carol Francesconi holds up pictures of flocks of Canadian geese in the area. |
CHESHIRE, Mass. — Cheshire residents have requested a new town ordinance that would prohibit the feeding of geese on Cheshire Reservoir.
Chairwoman Carol Francesconi read a letter from the Cheshire Lake Association to the board explaining the dangers of feeding the geese.
According to the association, the geese produce one to three pounds of fecal matter a day. It contains harmful levels of E.coli and pathogens that can harm people and wildlife. Francesconi said feeding the geese also causes aggression and their fecal matter dirties the lake and the bike trail.
Francesconi said she discussed the issue with the police chief and was curious if the ban on feeding the geese was even possible to enforce. She said the police chief felt signage or new laws would still help decrease the number of people feeding them.
Highway Superintendent Peter LeFebvre said feeding water fowl in Massachusetts is already illegal. He suggested that the town get in contact with the Department of Conservation and Recreation to see if it can help with signage or expedite any new town ordnances.
"We don't have any ordnances that I am aware of in the town of Cheshire, and if you pass an ordinance with no teeth in it who is going to pay attention?" Francesconi said. "If I had that many geese in my back yard, I would be concerned, and this is not the first time this has come up."
In other news, Town Administrator Mark Webber said the town recently received a check for $7,231.96 from McCann Technical School. He said it is a reimbursement from the 2014 school year.
Webber said McCann bases its budget on estimates of Chapter 70 general school aid and Chapter 71 transportation aid. If it receives more aid than estimated, the member towns are reimbursed.
"If they get more, McCann has historically given it back to the member towns, and it should be noted because I know of no other district that does that," Webber said. "Typically it just goes to a district’s excess and efficiency and you never know about it; it is quite a noble thing."
He said there are other years when Chapter 70 and 71 come in short and McCann does not ask the member towns for any extra money.
The money will go into next fiscal year’s free cash.
Webber reported that he spoke with Dalton’s town administrator about the mandated hiring of a full-time veterans agent to represent a veterans district. He said it may be possible to form a district with Dalton because they share the same veterans agent, Rosanne Frieri.
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If Cheshire has to opt into a Central Berkshire district it could cost nearly $10,000. Right now, the town pays $1,500 for the part-time service.
"This is great for South County. They already belong to a district, but those of us who don’t belong to a district would have to pay a lot more," Francesconi said.
Webber said he will continue to see if this is an option.
Cheshire received $1,700 in grants from the Department of Environmental Protection to upgrade the transfer station.
Some $500 will go toward replacing the shingles on the transfer station shed and the rest to the installation of a metal plate under the transfer station's roll off.
Tags: birds, lakes, ponds, veterans agent, wild life,
