Regionalizing Dog Pound Close to Happening

East Hampton's plan to regionalize its dog pound with the one in East Haddam stayed on course at the town council meeting Tuesday night.

There still needs to be an agreement hammered out and the town's financial commitment isn't finalized, but it appears within the next few months the plan will be in place, and the council unanimously passed two motions that empowered acting town manager Bob Drewry to make the regionalization of the pound happen.

Then it was on to other business. Before the night ended, however, Don Hazard had something to say about the dog pound.

Hazard, you see, owns the building at 216 Wopowog Road that currently is the East Hampton Dog Pound. He wanted to set the record straight, maybe even try to get the council to change its mind.

So, with note cards in hand, Hazard took center stage for several minutes, far more time than the council usually allows for public comments, and went over his talking points in a soft-spoken and mostly calm manner.

"The last meeting they were thinking about regionalizing because [East Haddam's] place is bigger, it was cleaner and it was cheaper," Hazard began. "Well, do what you got to do."

Hazard then rattled off several reasons in defense of his building.

"We're 795 square feet bigger than they are," he said. "The capacity of our pound will hold 12 dogs. The capacity of their pound will hold nine dogs. We have an office, they don't. We have a bath, they don't."

Then it became personal.

"The cleaner side. I take defense by that," he said. "All I've been hearing around town is that I'm running a dump. I'm not responsible for the cleanliness or the upkeep of the building. Look in the lease. Who's responsible for the upkeep and the looks of the building?

"Nobody has done anything. It needs painting. It needs windows. It's the responsibility of the town to take care of the building. You say it's cleaner? I was over at the East Haddam dog pound two Tuesdays ago. There wasn't one dog in the pound. There was a lot of dog [excrement] in it, though, and scattered around the outside of it. You won't find that in East Hampton.

"The first building people see when they come up my property, my driveway, is that building. You passed around a picture [previous meeting] and looked at it and went [yuck]. That's what I see every day. I've been after people to come down there and clean it up. Mow the lawn. Get rid of the brush around it, the overgrowth. I was talking to deaf ears."

Earlier in the meeting, councilman Chris Goff said the town would spend approximately $6,000 a year for the building, grounds, operations and supplies. Part of that figure will go into a special capital fund East Haddam is setting up for any future expansion. And East Hampton's animal control officers would have access and use of the pound as if they were using their own.

Hazard, who said the dog pound has been at its present location for 37 years,  didn't see the sense in that and offered his own suggestion.

"You're looking for a $6,000 savings from East Haddam to regionalize this," he said. "We have the facilities, why don't we be the regionalizer. Why don't we charge them the $6,000? Why don't we get Marlborough to go in with us? Now we get a $6,000 profit. We have the facilities. All it needs is some TLC which should have been done from the very beginning.

"I'm very upset over the whole thing. It really upsets me. You want to move, fine, but do what's good for the taxpayers and the people of East Hampton."

Hazard said the pound does meet the state standards for cleanliness and also said that, on average, the lease has only gone up $8 a year.

"Just think about it before you make a decision. That's all I ask," he said. "I personally don't care if you move, but just do it for the right reasons. Don't use the excuse that it's bigger, it's dirtier and you're saving a lousy four grand."

Hazard's comments' did spark several minutes of discussion among council members, some of whom seemed surprised by some of the information Hazard had offered.

The council asked Police Chief Matt Reimondo, who oversees animal control, to weigh in.

"This town about 12 years ago decided to go in a different direction with animal control. That's the last time, 12 years ago, when we had a full-time animal control officer that actually took care of that building," Reimondo said. "We have a part-time system that is horrible. We have a building that is in disrepair. There was $1,500 budgeted each year for repair of that building and we duct-taped things together. We have never addressed it seriously and it is to the point now where you need, as a council, I believe to make a decision. You're either going to repair the building or go somewhere else. It's expensive. We've been out there and looked at it. It's your decision. We can make any decision that you make work."

Hazard went on to say he didn't think the building needed that much work.

The chief disagreed.

"The building needs a lot of work," Reimondo countered. "We need to look at regionalizing. We are producing the same building that other towns have. We are paying the same prices for electric, gas, for the heat, the septic, for the trash removal. Could we build it back up and make it a regional pound here? Yes we could, but I think we need to look at all the options on the table."

Chairperson Melissa Engle said she thought the council had looked at all the options, then later made clear where the council stood.

"I appreciate Mr. Hazard's years of leasing that building and shame on us that we haven't been able to keep it up for you the way we should have," Engle said. "That's our problem but as the Chief pointed out, the town made a commitment to other things that were important and didn't do probably what we should have done with that building. Our apologies to you. I don't mean to offend you in any way. I think that pound has served us well for all these years, but at this point we're not in a position to have the money to bring that building up to what it could be and should be and maybe used to be, and I think the decision that we've made in East Haddam is a step up."

If one of Hazard's objectives was to get the council to change its mind, he failed. He did however, set some of the record straight, and perhaps more importantly, he put a face with an issue, which until Tuesday night, had none.

Sears Park Fees to Stay the Same for Residents

The parks and recreation advisory board asked to add a $50 fee per boat per season for non-resident youth and student groups. The added fee stems for the most part from Wesleyan and Xavier using Sears Park to access the lake during the spring and or fall seasons to practice their sport.

"There was concern among residents that they were paying a resident fee of $50 to launch their boat and felt it only fair that non-residents, be they student groups, should pay a fee," parks and recreation director Ruth Plummer said. "My board and I agreed with them. They raised a valid point."

The advisory board kept the normal use fees the same as last season for park stickers: $10 for season pass, $5 for seniors and veterans and $50 per boat. 

The motion to approve the fee schedule was approved unanimously by the council.

Commission on Aging Requests Alternates

The commission on the aging, which consists of five members, requested it be allowed to add two alternates.

Such a request would require a change to the ordinance, resulting in a public hearing. The commission says that by adding the alternates, they would more often be able to have a quorum.

"Whether or not we all think that is appropriate, the commission on aging does and I think it is probably more their call than ours," Engle said.

A public hearing was scheduled for Jan. 25 at 6:15, prior to the next town council meeting. … The town council also wants to look into the possible consolidation of dog pound personnel and what those savings might be. Said resident Mary Ann Dostaler: "I hope that this council is not yet again trying to interfere with the personnel positions within the police department. There's been more than enough of that already."