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OF <br />��90fNCOR9OPP <br />Town of Reading <br />Meeting Minutes <br />Board - Committee - Commission - Council: <br />tiECEIVED <br />OWN CLERK <br />­,DING, M,�SS. <br />t:i� JAN 21 All :N <br />Town Forest Committee <br />Date: 2013 -08 -06 Time: 7 pm <br />Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Board of Selectmen Room <br />Address: <br />Purpose: Discussion of Dog Walking in Reading Town Forest (RTF) <br />Attendees: Members - Present: <br />Mike DeBrigard, Jennifer Driscoll, Tom Gardiner, Terry Selle, Bill Sullivan, <br />Rick Wetzler <br />Members - Not Present: <br />Kurt Habel, Farrukh Najmi, Kendal Stackhouse <br />Others Present: <br />Jeff Zager <br />Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Rick Wetzler <br />Topics of Discussion: <br />Committee Membership <br />1) Introduction of new members, including Bill Sullivan and Jennifer Driscoll in attendance <br />2) Resolution of gratitude for outgoing Chair, Patrice Todisco <br />3) Election of new Chair, Terry Selle, by unanimous vote <br />Discussion of dog walking in RTF focused in particular on: <br />1) Possibly reducing dog walking traffic within the forest by creating an additional option: a <br />fenced dog park, as proposed by Selectman John Arena. Potentially sited on the field <br />adjacent to the former water treatment plant, this idea would be modified by feedback <br />from users of such parks in other towns (e.g. Medford [Sheepfold Meadow in Middlesex <br />Fells], Gloucester [Stage Fort Park] and Dartmouth). <br />• ASPCA has conducted a pro/ con assessment of such parks, illuminating the <br />unexpected importance of disease, lapses in vaccination and overabundance <br />and removal of dog feces. <br />• There was general agreement that a fenced enclosure for dogs might make <br />sense close to the Town center (e.g. Memorial Park or Imagination Station), but <br />owners would be unwilling to transport dogs all the way to RTF just to be <br />released within a fenced area. <br />2) Posting etiquette for dog owners -- voluntary compliance which might prove more <br />successful than regulations. <br />3) Exploring precedents set by other towns (e.g. Rockport) which had purportedly banned <br />pit bulls from their public forests, following attacks on humans. <br />4) Creating frequency -of -use maps to help RTF users who are wary of dogs, delineating: <br />a. Leash -on "safe zones" <br />b. Leash -off (dogs running free) zones <br />c. Areas of high and low dog traffic. <br />Page 1 1 <br />2013 -09 -03 <br />