Selectmen address full agenda at recent meeting (Printed Dec. 7, 2007)
By Ashley St. Michel
Staff Writer
The Kennebunk Board of Selectmen tackled a full agenda at a recent board meeting including an update from the town's dog committee, a discussion about Intervale Road funding and a report regarding the Kennebunk Police Department's strategic plan.
Dog committee presents report
After more than a year of monitoring and testing Mother’s, Middle and Gooch’s beaches to determine if Kennebunk’s town ordinance regulating dogs should be amended, the Dog Advisory Committee presented its results to the selectmen Nov. 27.
The Conservation Commission and Shellfish Committee recommended during an Oct. 11 selectmen’s meeting to include the words “and Domestic Animals” to the ordinance title and add the word “pathway” to the area’s which the ordinance states dogs must be leased or under voice control at all times. The final change conservation and the Shellfish Committee recommended adding a new section to regulate feces.
As it stands, the dog ordinance states any person who owns a dog must remove any feces left by their dog on any public beach, street or park. Town Manager Barry Tibbetts said the town already provides small bags on the beaches to dispose of feces.
Cathy Connors, secretary for the Dog Advisory Committee, said overall the testing was positive.
“The monitoring that took place was very comprehensive,” she said. “Not only did we address concerns about proper disposal but we also addressed water quality concerns.”
The report, Connors said, clearly shows dogs are not hurting water quality at Kennebunk’s beaches.
The dog committee was formed in 2006 and consists of a handful of residents who monitored and surveyed beaches through the spring, summer and fall of 2007. The committee allotted certain times to visit each beach, spending more than two hours a day, almost every day, at each of the beaches.
Kennebunk Conservation Commission member Richard Mere said he was content the ordinance would include all domestic animals, since people bring horses and pigs to the beaches.
Connors said the committee talked to people on the beaches about dog control whether they had dogs or not. The committee worked with the Animal Welfare Society to make brochures which outlined proper dog care and the importance of keeping feces off beaches.
But Connors said complaints about dogs on the beaches have already solved themselves.
“We had a few complaints, only about eight, and we dealt with them,” Connors said, adding two of the complaints, which she called isolated incidences, included a dog that jumped over a fence to help a resident finish a pizza and another dog which urinated on some seaweed.
Connors said the committee noticed an increase in dog feces during the early spring and fall months but during the summer people usually keep the beaches clean.
The Kennebunk Police Department also assisted the committee, visiting the beaches on a regular basis and taking what Sergeant Andrew Belisle called “informal” surveys.
“We have had very few complaints,” he said. “Anything that occurred was taken care of by the dog committee.”
Belisle added anyone who doesn’t have a leash for their dog or doesn’t clean up after their dog in Kennebunk can be punished by a fine or a court summons.
Connors said the committee doesn’t expect much from pet owners.
“The dog committee only asks that people have to carry a leash,” she said “It’s pretty easy, you either do or don’t have one. And we ask that people continue to pick up after their pets.”
The selectmen granted Connors' request to keep the committee for at least one more year to continue monitoring Kennebunk’s beaches and communicating its rules and regulations for dogs.
Intervale Road, again
Town Manager Barry Tibbetts discussed options with the Kennebunk Board of Selectmen after residents vetoed Question 3, which would give the town permission to increase property tax levy limits in order to accommodate a $375,000 bond. The bond would be used to repair flood damaged land and houses from the April 2006 and 2007 storms on Intervale Road, Meadow Drive and Partridge Lane.
Tibbetts heard numerous complaints from residents who said they didn’t understand why Question 3 was on the ballot. The town voted in favor of Question 2, which allocated up to a $375,000 bond to repair damaged areas.
After Intervale Road residents were hit by two major floods in two years, the town explored applying for a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The grant covered the cost of removing fire damaged homes in the area and raising another five above flood plain to prevent future incidences. The grant application was for more than $1.4 million, 25 percent of which must be locally matched. Tibbetts said the way to match that money would be to raise the property tax levy limit.
Although the town has a few options, Tibbett said, it would have been easier if Question 3 passed.
“Basically, we thought about taking it out of the surplus,” he said. “But then we looked at that account and figured there will be no money available.”
Tibbetts said he contacted Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to discuss the options.
Selectman Daniel Boothby asked if the town would have to hold a second vote regardless of what decision is made.
Tibbets said there wouldn’t have to be a vote, unless the selectmen asked for a Question 3 re-vote.
“If it was approved that time around it would automatically be under the cap,” he said, adding no matter what option the selectmen take, the bond must be under the budget cap.
Tibbetts said although the selectmen couldn’t vote or decide on an option at last Tuesday’s meeting the option of pushing another budgeted item over the cap to fit the $375,000 under the cap is probably the best fit.
Police submit strategic plan
Members of the Kennebunk Police Department presented their final strategic plan to the Kennebunk Board of Selectmen Nov. 27 which Michael Pardue, director of police services, said focuses on continuing quality service to the community and its employees and serves as a business plan for accomplishing change in the future.
“We started the plan by conducting a survey with the business population and citizens to determine what people expect or need of the police department,” Pardue said, adding the plan will continue to be utilized and evaluated every two or three years.
The plan includes improving and evaluating personnel, integrating more community oriented policing, communication, training, equipment and the overall facility.
In 2006, the department began work with an outside firm to establish areas to be improved. The department formed a Strategic Planning Committee, which was comprised of Kennebunk police officers. In the first few months of 2007, Pardue said the department began citizen’s input meetings, where residents of Kennebunk would join the committee in an effort to outline areas of concern. After those areas were decided, members of the department were assigned areas to be in charge of.
Lieutenant Robert MacKenzie said the department strives to provide superior personal services to the residents they serve.
“When I introduce myself to other people or establishments I like to be able to say I am proud to be from the Kennebunk Police Department,” he said. “The best police department in the state of Maine.”
Another area of improvement includes communicating with youth and discovering their needs of the department.
MacKenzie said he was especially proud of the departments training developments. He said they will continue to evaluate training needs in an effort to “make our officers the best officers in the state.”
MacKenzie also announced York County Community College’s decision to have the department run its Law Enforcement Pre-Service “100-hour” program, which is mandatory for all officers in training to pass before becoming active.
“For us to work with a community college is fantastic,” he said. “We have heard people want to be a Kennebunk police officer, and that’s what we want to continue hearing."
Staff Writer
The Kennebunk Board of Selectmen tackled a full agenda at a recent board meeting including an update from the town's dog committee, a discussion about Intervale Road funding and a report regarding the Kennebunk Police Department's strategic plan.
Dog committee presents report
After more than a year of monitoring and testing Mother’s, Middle and Gooch’s beaches to determine if Kennebunk’s town ordinance regulating dogs should be amended, the Dog Advisory Committee presented its results to the selectmen Nov. 27.
The Conservation Commission and Shellfish Committee recommended during an Oct. 11 selectmen’s meeting to include the words “and Domestic Animals” to the ordinance title and add the word “pathway” to the area’s which the ordinance states dogs must be leased or under voice control at all times. The final change conservation and the Shellfish Committee recommended adding a new section to regulate feces.
As it stands, the dog ordinance states any person who owns a dog must remove any feces left by their dog on any public beach, street or park. Town Manager Barry Tibbetts said the town already provides small bags on the beaches to dispose of feces.
Cathy Connors, secretary for the Dog Advisory Committee, said overall the testing was positive.
“The monitoring that took place was very comprehensive,” she said. “Not only did we address concerns about proper disposal but we also addressed water quality concerns.”
The report, Connors said, clearly shows dogs are not hurting water quality at Kennebunk’s beaches.
The dog committee was formed in 2006 and consists of a handful of residents who monitored and surveyed beaches through the spring, summer and fall of 2007. The committee allotted certain times to visit each beach, spending more than two hours a day, almost every day, at each of the beaches.
Kennebunk Conservation Commission member Richard Mere said he was content the ordinance would include all domestic animals, since people bring horses and pigs to the beaches.
Connors said the committee talked to people on the beaches about dog control whether they had dogs or not. The committee worked with the Animal Welfare Society to make brochures which outlined proper dog care and the importance of keeping feces off beaches.
But Connors said complaints about dogs on the beaches have already solved themselves.
“We had a few complaints, only about eight, and we dealt with them,” Connors said, adding two of the complaints, which she called isolated incidences, included a dog that jumped over a fence to help a resident finish a pizza and another dog which urinated on some seaweed.
Connors said the committee noticed an increase in dog feces during the early spring and fall months but during the summer people usually keep the beaches clean.
The Kennebunk Police Department also assisted the committee, visiting the beaches on a regular basis and taking what Sergeant Andrew Belisle called “informal” surveys.
“We have had very few complaints,” he said. “Anything that occurred was taken care of by the dog committee.”
Belisle added anyone who doesn’t have a leash for their dog or doesn’t clean up after their dog in Kennebunk can be punished by a fine or a court summons.
Connors said the committee doesn’t expect much from pet owners.
“The dog committee only asks that people have to carry a leash,” she said “It’s pretty easy, you either do or don’t have one. And we ask that people continue to pick up after their pets.”
The selectmen granted Connors' request to keep the committee for at least one more year to continue monitoring Kennebunk’s beaches and communicating its rules and regulations for dogs.
Intervale Road, again
Town Manager Barry Tibbetts discussed options with the Kennebunk Board of Selectmen after residents vetoed Question 3, which would give the town permission to increase property tax levy limits in order to accommodate a $375,000 bond. The bond would be used to repair flood damaged land and houses from the April 2006 and 2007 storms on Intervale Road, Meadow Drive and Partridge Lane.
Tibbetts heard numerous complaints from residents who said they didn’t understand why Question 3 was on the ballot. The town voted in favor of Question 2, which allocated up to a $375,000 bond to repair damaged areas.
After Intervale Road residents were hit by two major floods in two years, the town explored applying for a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The grant covered the cost of removing fire damaged homes in the area and raising another five above flood plain to prevent future incidences. The grant application was for more than $1.4 million, 25 percent of which must be locally matched. Tibbetts said the way to match that money would be to raise the property tax levy limit.
Although the town has a few options, Tibbett said, it would have been easier if Question 3 passed.
“Basically, we thought about taking it out of the surplus,” he said. “But then we looked at that account and figured there will be no money available.”
Tibbetts said he contacted Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to discuss the options.
Selectman Daniel Boothby asked if the town would have to hold a second vote regardless of what decision is made.
Tibbets said there wouldn’t have to be a vote, unless the selectmen asked for a Question 3 re-vote.
“If it was approved that time around it would automatically be under the cap,” he said, adding no matter what option the selectmen take, the bond must be under the budget cap.
Tibbetts said although the selectmen couldn’t vote or decide on an option at last Tuesday’s meeting the option of pushing another budgeted item over the cap to fit the $375,000 under the cap is probably the best fit.
Police submit strategic plan
Members of the Kennebunk Police Department presented their final strategic plan to the Kennebunk Board of Selectmen Nov. 27 which Michael Pardue, director of police services, said focuses on continuing quality service to the community and its employees and serves as a business plan for accomplishing change in the future.
“We started the plan by conducting a survey with the business population and citizens to determine what people expect or need of the police department,” Pardue said, adding the plan will continue to be utilized and evaluated every two or three years.
The plan includes improving and evaluating personnel, integrating more community oriented policing, communication, training, equipment and the overall facility.
In 2006, the department began work with an outside firm to establish areas to be improved. The department formed a Strategic Planning Committee, which was comprised of Kennebunk police officers. In the first few months of 2007, Pardue said the department began citizen’s input meetings, where residents of Kennebunk would join the committee in an effort to outline areas of concern. After those areas were decided, members of the department were assigned areas to be in charge of.
Lieutenant Robert MacKenzie said the department strives to provide superior personal services to the residents they serve.
“When I introduce myself to other people or establishments I like to be able to say I am proud to be from the Kennebunk Police Department,” he said. “The best police department in the state of Maine.”
Another area of improvement includes communicating with youth and discovering their needs of the department.
MacKenzie said he was especially proud of the departments training developments. He said they will continue to evaluate training needs in an effort to “make our officers the best officers in the state.”
MacKenzie also announced York County Community College’s decision to have the department run its Law Enforcement Pre-Service “100-hour” program, which is mandatory for all officers in training to pass before becoming active.
“For us to work with a community college is fantastic,” he said. “We have heard people want to be a Kennebunk police officer, and that’s what we want to continue hearing."
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