Dogs dominate night one of Manchester Town Meeting

Despite the passion that surrounded the issue of dogs on Singing Beach prior to Town Meeting, nothing was changed Monday night. Manchester residents voted against changing the current bylaws, which means dogs will be permitted on the beach from Oct. 1 to May 1.

Article 30 proposed to ban dogs from Singing Beach year-round. The article’s author, Pat Morley, addressed the anxious throng.

“I don’t expect to win a popularity contest tonight,” she explained. “The reason this is being placed on the warrant is because we’ve had complaints. … (Singing Beach) seems to be becoming a dog park … but it’s a beautiful beach, one of our greatest assets.”

Morley cited dog owners not picking up after their dogs and safety issues as two reasons why dogs should be restricted from the beach.

“There was an incidence just last week when a woman was bitten while trying to break up a dog fight. What if it’s a child next time?” she said.

However, after explaining her reasons, Morley threw Town Meeting for a loop and requested that the issue not be voted on at Town Meeting, but that it be put on the ballot for May’s Town election.

Selectmen Chairman Sue Thorne then offered an amendment to the main motion. Thorne suggested dogs not be banned from the beach entirely, calling an outright ban “punitive” for dog owners.

Her amendment was that dogs only be granted access from Oct. 31 to April 1.

Voters rejected Thorne’s amendment by a slim margin, with 276 in favor and 286 opposing

Manchester resident Remy Brown then proposed his own amendment, which suggested the current bans be less restrictive and the period be extended to begin on Sept. 15 and end on May 1.

“There is no one on the beach sunbathing in the second half of September,” said Brown.

Board of Health member John Adams said that he “has no dog in this fight,” but was there to dispel any beliefs that people might harbor about health detriments posed by dogs on the beach. He explained that though dogs have been known to transmit both parasitic and bacterial diseases to humans, that it is no more likely to happen on a beach than it is in a back yard or on a street.

“The Board of Health cannot recommend that dogs be banned from beaches anymore than they be banned from walking down the streets,” he said.

Concerned parent Suzanne Otterbein said she and her children are “intimidated by the dogs. I hope that we can come to an agreement as a town to let people as well as the dogs enjoy some quality of life at the beach.”

Dog owner Janet Cirone agreed with Brown’s assertion that the beach is nearly barren during the colder months.

“Monday through Friday there is not one child down there,” she said. “It’s us, it’s freezing cold, and we’re down there with our dogs.”

David Crosby asked what the difference in numbers would be between voters present at Town Meeting and voter turnout for an average election.

Town Clerk Gretchen Wood explained that there were approximately 520 voters present at Town Meeting and that approximately 300 voters voted in last year’s election. She did however say that election turnout fluctuates according to the issues on the ballot.

Three motions and over an hour of discussion later, nothing changed. Dogs can, at least as of now, walk on Singing Beach from Oct. 1 until May 1.

The meeting will resume tonight (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. at the Memorial School, during which any article voted on during last night’s session can be brought up for reconsideration. The dogs are, however, safe for now.