Clarksburg Dealing With Dog Scofflaws
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The Select Board last week gave Animal Control Officer Diana Worth the go ahead to get tough with people failing to follow the town's dog laws.
Worth, hired earlier this year, has been dealing with dogs running loose and an owner of five animals who refuses to follow state law on licensing.
She said there are two dogs running loose, one owned by occupants of a mobile home and another it runs with that lives a short distance away. The dogs are aggressive and she now has a report they are going after livestock. She said three people have reported being bitten.
"They're not even licensed," Worth told the board at its special meeting on Thursday. "I tried to get them with another resident up there. When I got out of the vehicle, they took off, and then they came back like towards, after me. So one is very vicious, and it will bite."
She said she has called a state trooper to go with her but hasn't been able to find the owners or the dog at those times.
"The thing is, if it continues to go after people's livestock, there is a law that if ... a dog goes after someone's livestock, that the owner of the livestock can shoot the dog," she said, adding that another neighbor no longer feels safe walking his own dog on the road.
Town Administrator Ronald Boucher said this issue goes beyond the dog and has included the Berkshire Public Health Alliance inspectors as well.
"There's a situation there where it's a public health issue, that place is a mess," he said. "They have a outdoor griddle in their kitchen with propane, with no vents, and the inside living area is deplorable. ...
"If the thing's not straightened out, there'll be an issue to evacuate, leave, to have to leave the premises."
Town meeting this year approved contracting with the health alliance, a collaboration through the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission that provides inspection services. The hiring of inspectors and an ACO is allowing the town to crack down on scofflaws.
Boucher said the property is owned by a woman in Adams and he believes a grandchild is living there. A registered letter was sent to the address and some conditions were met; he was planning to go with the inspector for the next review.
The owners of the dog at the second location are living in a camper and there were complaints about a generator they were running constantly. Boucher said they had reported they would be tied into the electric grid by Aug. 18.
The board suggested writing warning letters but Worth said that has already been done. Board members approved her seeking a warrant with the State Police to take the dog; Boucher said the issue might be resolved soon if they were told the leave the property.
Another resident has five dogs, three of which have been found running loose, but has refused to apply for a kennel license as required by state law.
"I need to inspect, and he still won't let me inspect. I can't go on his property. He says, I cannot go on his property," Worth said.
Boucher said he's recommendation is to keep fining him and if he doesn't pay, "we'll attach whatever we need to attach," referring to possible liens on the property. A kennel license is $125; the fine is $500 for first offense and $1,000 after that.
The board determined it was not responsible for a $100 rabies test on a dead bat that a puppy had chewed on and that it was up to the owners.
In other business, the town's audit showed it has good control of his financial reporting and no material weaknesses.
"We looked at a lot of things and gave your accountant and treasurer a hard time but they did good," said David Irwin of Adelson & Co. "Everything was good."
He gave a rundown of the town's financial condition at the end of fiscal 2024, noting it ended the year with $3.4 million in cash and that expenditures were "inside a comfortable range of your budget."
The tax collector did a very good job, Irwin said, with $69,000 in outstanding collections on a $2.3 million levy; excises taxes had a collection rate of 87 percent, which was in the "ballpark" for Berkshire County towns.
The management letter had no findings, which would have pointed out "significant deficiencies," but did offer some recommendations to improve communications across the departments (which had sometimes been at cross purposes in the past).
Irwin suggested putting in place some policies and procedures on handling documentation and to give clear guidance as staffing changes.
"The No. 1 item that we had was over the management of the town's grants," he said. "When we went through the audit, we didn't have any issues with the final numbers at the end as being recorded in the financial statements, but trying to track down some of the grant documents — one piece is over here, one piece is over there."
He suggested policy templates in a couple other areas to tighten up internal controls and properly record inflow and outflow of monies.
Treasurer and Tax Collector Kelly Haskins submitted a financial policy to the Select Board based on Irwin's recommendations and based on Mass General Laws. The town did not have a policy.
This would be guide for the finance team and the Select Board and Finance Committee during budget season, she said. "It's not consistent, just because of the turnover that was in this office, with free cash and things like that and records, but I think moving forward would be a goal for every department to review it and stay consistent in policy procedures."
The board voted to accept the policy and send it to the Finance Committee for review.
Tags: animal control, dogs, public health,
