SOUTHWICK — Bob Polverari, who paid for the construction of the town’s animal control facility with his late wife Barbara, appeared before the Select Board on Aug. 11 with a bone to pick about dog license fee late fines.
“It’s a small thing, but still, it’s big to me,” Polverari said about being charged $15 for failing to renew his dog license before the April 30 deadline.
He said the situation started last year when he was a week late paying the $10 license fee.
“They attempted to charge me a $15 penalty on top of the $10 license fee,” Polverari said, referring to the town clerk’s office.
Miffed, he went to the Select Board office hoping to speak to a board member.
“[I was] assured they’d get back to me. Never happened,” he said.
He acknowledged he was late paying the fee again this year by three days.
“They attempted to fine me another $15 penalty — which I haven’t paid — and now added, since then, a $50 fine and next we go to court,” he said, which he indicated he would fight.
His issue with the fine is that it’s 150% of the cost of the license.
“I don’t believe this will fly in court or when the news gets out,” Polverari said.
He used his annual property tax bill as an example of the 150% fine.
“If I was one day late on my $8,000 tax bill and you charged me 150%, you’d give me a $20,000 bill the next day. That would not work, so something’s wrong,” he said.
He said the town doesn’t have the right to charge 150% as a late fee.
“You’re restricted to 12% or 15%,” Polverari said.
He also reminded the board it wasn’t about the money, given that he and his wife donated $500,000 for the animal shelter.
“It’s about principle. You’re trying to take unfair advantage of the animal lovers,” he said.
And in closing, he said, “we’re all human” adding that he’s now 88 years old and every now and then might forget something.
“I think it’s very unfair to charge that kind of money,” he said.
Select Board member Diane Gale promised Polverari that she would see what the town might be able to do and would reach out to him when it was figured out.
In other board business, it decided to hold off on deciding where to use excess Community Block Development Grant funds.
At the last meeting, representatives with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission updated the board on the ongoing CDBG projects and that there was $130,297 left over from the Bungalow Road improvement project.
The board also briefly discussed which road projects would be funded this year.
At the last meeting, the board approved funding Phase II of the Ed Holcombe Road project for $490,000, Phase III of the Gargon Terrace project for $420,000, and spending $95,000 on South Longyard Road to repair drainage.
It also approved spending $80,000 for crack sealing, setting aside $25,000 to match a Rural Development Grant to have Powder Mill Road repaired, $30,000 for drainage repair on Granville Road, and spending $15,000 to match a grant for culvert design.
Board member Douglas Moglin suggested starting repairs on Fernwood, Meadow and Vining Hill roads.
The board decided to wait until Assistant DPW Director Jon Goddard could break the projects into phases and the cost of each.
The board also learned it had additional funds for road repairs after the state announced the annual Chapter 90 allocation and state surtax on incomes over $1 million, also known as the Fair Share Amendment.
Southwick will get a total of $786,741 from both allocations. That will be combined with a $1 million borrowing authorization approved by Town Meeting, and $167,000 in leftover Chapter 90 funds, which totals $1.95 million.
