Breakheart workers granted authority to ticket park violators

SAUGUS – The Board of Selectmen voted Wednesday to grant Breakheart Reservation Supervisor Anthony Guthro and Manager William Dalton the power to ticket wayward dog owners within the park.Park patrons letting their dogs off leash and failing to clean up after them has long been a bone of contention for park workers. Ed Murray, chairman of the Friends of Breakheart, called patrons’ failure to follow K-9 rules the ultimate lack of respect.Selectman Peter Rossetti, who proposed the idea, called it a win-win for the town. He argued that the Police Department does not have the manpower to patrol the park for dog violations. Not to mention that it’s the State Police that actually have jurisdiction in the state park.”Theoretically the State Police can do it, but they don’t want to be relegated to dog duty either,” Rossetti said.Rossetti said another incentive is that the plan won’t cost the town money and in fact might net it a few dollars. Under the new measure, Guthro and Dalton would remain Department of Conservation and Recreation employees.”They won’t be compensated, they won’t become Saugus town employees, they will still work for DCR,” he said.But the money raised from the tickets will go directly to the town of Saugus. The pair will be able to ticket anyone who violates the leash law or “allows their dog to defecate at will without cleaning up after them,” Rossetti explained.Selectman Stephen Horlick said his only concern was that DCR would sign off on the program. Rossetti said he had a verbal agreement from DCR officials, but Horlick asked him to get it in writing. Others are concerned that it will be the patrolmen who won’t back the plan.Police Chief Domenic DiMella said Wednesday he supported the motion, but the patrolmen balked once before when Town Manager Andrew Bisignani encroached on their territory. When Bisignani gave K-9 Control Officer Harry Young a citation book and put him on parking ticket detail, the patrolmen’s union grieved the issue. The town prevailed when Town Meeting voted to allow Bisignani to create the post of a parking attendant.Rossetti said Wednesday he thought that move set a precedent that would allow the dog detail in Breakheart.Murray called the ruling a move in the right direction.”I’m happy,” he said. “This should help correct the problem.”Murray has been at a loss as to how to handle the dog problem for some time. Despite handing out flyers and keeping plastic bags and trash barrels handy, Murray said there wasn’t much else he could do.”The majority of people do abide by the law but the ones that don’t make it tough for everybody,” he said. “We’re not trying to put anyone in jail here, we just want to you to abide by the laws.”