NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council Tuesday took the first step toward forming a new Animal Control Commission.

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey brought the council the request to create a body to help the Police Department "in carrying out their responsibility under [Massachusetts General Law] as well as conduct hearings related to dangerous and/or nuisance dogs."

 

At Tuesday's meeting, Macksey told the council that state officials recommended that the city establish a commission, a proposal endorsed both by the local animal control officer and the interim police chief.

 

"As most of you know, we have a new animal control officer, Matthew Reynolds," Macksey said. "Part of his job has been to look at our ordinances and make sure we have enough documentation that when we get ourselves in a situation with a dangerous dog or nuisance dog, that we have enough procedures outlined."

 

According to a draft ordinance submitted by Macksey, the new five-member board would advise the city's animal control officer after hearing cases regarding concerns or complaints on an as-needed basis.

 

It also would be empowered to create educational programs, publish statistics on the city's animals and make recommendations to other bodies about a long-range plan to meet the North Adams' "needs in connection with animal control."

 

The councilors agreed that an Animal Control Commission would benefit the city.

 

"This was something a few years back that came to council," Keith Bona said. "Under the Benard Administration, it went to the Public Safety Committee to decide whether to put a dog down or not. We didn't think it was our job, but because we didn't have this commission set up …"

 

Lisa Blackmer agreed.

 

"I remember how much angst that particular issue caused the committee and the council," she said. "By doing this, we'll have people in place who have qualifications to make those decisions … as opposed to those of us who are basically lay people."

 

Council President Bryan Sapienza said that as a member of the Public Safety Committee, he did not know if he could make a decision about how to deal with a dangerous pet, adding that, "it's a hard decision to decide to have someone's dog euthanized or whatever protective action needs to be done."

 

Macksey emphasized that the commission would have other options besides putting dogs down.

 

"It's about having humane actions: a different type of kennel or different type of enclosure," Macksey said. "This ordinance wasn't written to euthanize dogs."

 

The council voted 8-0, with Wayne Wilkinson absent, to refer the draft ordinance to the Public Safety Committee with a return date to the council at its first meeting in April.

 

The NAPD also was before the City Council on Tuesday with a request to appropriate $89,251.16 from the city's Parking Meter Reserve Account to purchase a new police cruiser.

 

Macksey told the council that she "choked on the number" when interim Chief Mark Bailey presented her with the invoice but accepted his explanation and asked him to make the case to the councilors.

 

Bailey said that the base car is more expensive than the last cruiser the city purchased, but the increased price is largely due to the fact that the vehicle he wants to order comes fully equipped.

 

Past practice, he explained, has been to buy a cruiser that was not fully equipped and then figure out how to get the equipment it needed.

 

"We have been buying three-quarters of a cruiser, and then I go through the budget … and basically take that out of the vehicle maintenance budget," Bailey said.

 

Radar equipment, computers and an e-citation device that produces digital tickets were some examples of equipment Bailey cited that he has added on to past vehicles but will come in the fully loaded cruiser he seeks to purchase this time around.

 

He also pointed to one big ticket item that he said will help protect the public and officers.

 

"We don't have dashboard cameras [in cruisers]," he said. "The dashboard camera we're asking for in this is $10,000."

 

He said the 360-degree cameras will synchronize with officers' body cameras and activate when the cruiser's blue lights are turned on.

 

The new cameras will document interactions between officers and the public and create a visual record that can be used in court.

 

"In my mind, it's going to save us money because officers won't have to go to court as often to testify," Bailey said. "That is an expense that we technically don't need, but it will help us be as transparent as possible for the public."

 

Bailey said that the $10,000 cost to install the dash cam system on the city's newest cruiser will mean that it will cost $5,000 per vehicle for subsequent installations. In response to a question from Councillor Peter Breen, Bailey said he will look at ways to find money in the budget to retrofit newer cruisers rather than having to wait for future vehicle replacements in order to expand coverage.

 

Sapienza recused himself from the discussion of the new vehicle purchase, turning the gavel over to Vice President Ashley Shade for that agenda item. The remaining councilors voted, 7-0, to approve the purchase.

 

Macksey advised the council that the city's Parking Meter Reserve had $194,000 prior to the expenditure for a new cruiser.

 

In other business on Tuesday, the City Council:

 

• Heard from General Government Committee Chair Peter Oleskiewicz that Sapienza had withdrawn his proposal to amend the city ordinance to allow the chair to cancel Council meetings if there is no business to conduct.

 

• Referred Macksey's draft of an accessory dwelling unit ordinance to the General Government Committee. Macksey explained that the ordinance will bring the city in line with recently enacted legislation from Boston, ensure that ADUs can be used in the city to create housing opportunities and prevent the abuse of so-called "granny flats" as short-term rentals.

 

• Heard an update from Macksey regarding several infrastructure projects. The city lost a bid for a Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency grant to repair a retaining wall on Walnut Street but is pursuing other funding options for the $2 million project. Macksey recently met with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation regarding the Brown Street bridge; it has been determined that the bridge needs to be replaced rather than repaired, and the city is talking to MassDOT about a design for the project. And Macksey said she is hoping to schedule a community meeting in April to discuss the Veterans Memorial Bridge.