MILFORD — Dogs could be welcome on Walnut Beach seven months a year, and the city’s police cameras could face a new layer of public sign-off, under two proposals headed to City Hall on Thursday, Nov. 5.
The Board of Aldermen’s Ordinance Committee will hold a special meeting and public hearing at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Auditorium, 110 River St., on a change to the city’s parks rules that would let dogs on Walnut Beach in the off-season. The full Board of Aldermen meets right after, at 7:30 p.m., with a resolution on oversight of surveillance technology and a $2.5 million transfer toward recreation and a Boys & Girls Club expansion on its agenda.
Dogs on Walnut Beach, October through April
Milford’s parks ordinance, Sec. 16-2, now bars bringing animals into any beach or park area, with exceptions only for leashed dogs in marked parts of Eisenhower Park and the off-leash dog run there.
The proposed amendment adds two lines. The first reads: “Dogs shall be permitted on Walnut Beach from October 1st through April 30th provided such use complies with all posted rules and regulations.” The second says nothing in the section “shall be construed to prohibit the City from organizing, permitting, or hosting dog-friendly events at any municipal park or beach area.”
The idea has been in the works since summer. At the Aug. 10 Animal Commission meeting, Assistant Public Works Director Rob Harrigan said Mayor Richard M. Smith wanted to “test the waters” with dog access to part of the beach, something Fairfield County beach towns already do, and get public feedback. The plan presented that night was a fenced area near the cul-de-sac at the end of Walnut Beach closest to Silver Sands for Aug. 22 and 23, with dogs allowed off-leash from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. Recreation Director Bill Garfield said his staff would check dog licenses and hand out bags.
According to the commission’s minutes, Harrigan said the city planned to offer dog access in the colder months if the trial went well. City Attorney Jon Berchem advised that a one-time event wouldn’t need a rule change, but year-round off-season access would require amending the ordinance. That’s the change now before the committee. The Park, Beach and Recreation Commission also had the ordinance on its Oct. 7 agenda.
Thursday’s session is a committee hearing, so residents can weigh in before any final vote by the full board.
Who signs off on police cameras
At 7:30 p.m., aldermen take up a draft Resolution Concerning Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology, dated Oct. 29. It names license plate readers, live video cameras and drones as tools the city uses, and notes they arrived “through different routes, including bond-funded projects, vendor contracts for other services, subscriptions, and pilot programs.”
The draft would:
- Make it city policy that any new surveillance technology, or a significant expansion, comes before the Board of Aldermen for approval with public comment, “regardless of how it is funded or acquired.”
- Have the police chief give the board, within 90 days, a list of the surveillance technology now in use, with the vendor, number of devices, annual cost and contract renewal date for each.
- Require surveillance contracts to come to the board before they are renewed or expanded.
- Allow temporary use in an emergency involving imminent danger to life, as long as it’s reported to the board within 30 days.
- Ask the Public Safety Technology Review Committee to look at data sharing with outside agencies, annual public reporting, and whether any of the rules should become an ordinance.
The resolution follows the board’s Oct. 5 meeting. That night a motion to end the city’s Flock Condor camera program failed, 9-5. A separate measure passed 9-5: a temporary moratorium on Condor cameras while the city’s public safety technology goes to the review committee. The draft also cites Public Act 26-14, the new state law setting rules for license plate reader data.
Also on Thursday’s agenda
- $2.5 million for recreation: a transfer from the city’s unallocated contingency fund (Fund 3640) to a line for “Recreational Enhancements and Boys & Girls Club Expansion.”
- $86,000 for the marina: a transfer from Fund 6036’s unreserved fund balance to Marina Projects and Maintenance.
- Opioid settlement accounts: a resolution setting up accounts for opioid remediation money. In executive session, aldermen are scheduled to consider the Albertsons Companies national opioid settlement.
- Howard’s Variety awning: approval for an awning at 34-36 Naugatuck Ave., which Planning and Zoning approved Oct. 20.
- Appointments: David Plaskon (D) to the Flood & Erosion Control Board and Molly Maguire (D) as a Zoning Board of Appeals alternate.
- Executive session: a possible settlement in Empyrean Hospitality LLC v. City of Milford.
How to weigh in
Residents can speak at the Ordinance Committee’s 7 p.m. public hearing on the beach rule. At the 7:30 p.m. Board of Aldermen meeting, public comment comes near the start, limited to three minutes per speaker and to matters within the board’s legislative role. Copies of the proposed ordinance are on file at the City Clerk’s office, and the full agenda packet is posted on the city’s website.
THURSDAY, NOV. 5 AT CITY HALL
7 p.m.: Ordinance Committee special meeting and public hearing: dogs on Walnut Beach Oct. 1 to April 30
7:30 p.m.: Board of Aldermen: surveillance oversight resolution, $2.5M recreation and Boys & Girls Club transfer, opioid settlement accounts
Where: City Hall Auditorium, 110 River St., Milford
Accessibility: Call Community Development at 203-783-3230 five days ahead if possible
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