CHESTER — Hunting won’t require written permission from the property owner, following a wide majority vote on June 13.

Just 15 out of the 86 voters at Chester’s annual Town Meeting supported a proposal to require hunters in town to carry a permission slip and vehicle placard obtained from the town clerk and signed by the owner of the property.

Proponents said too many hunters ignore the “no hunting” signs posted on trees and fences, but opponents said the proposed bylaw would place too much of a burden on people exercising a traditional right.

Melvyn Hook said those who don’t want hunting on their property need to make sure their boundary lines are posted properly, and that responsible hunters will obey a “no hunting” sign. Irresponsible hunters who don’t obey the signs also won’t obey this bylaw, he said.

He also said many property owners’ complaints have to do with trespassers in general, including ATV riders, hikers and horse riders, and the hunting permission system will not stop trespassing.

“We’re trying to pass a bylaw that is not going to solve the problem,” Hook said.
Florence Bolduc said the proposal would simply bring Chester in line with its neighbors.

“Every town around us is closed — [hunters] need to have written permission,” she said. “All the hunters who don’t care about permission, they come to Chester. My land is posted. People don’t respect it.”

Opponents also raised questions about the cost of the proposed bylaw, as it would require the town clerk to supply a standard permission form, and police would need to take time out of their patrol schedule to enforce the law. They said many landowners who allow hunting on their property as a courtesy to their community won’t want to spend time filling out forms and visiting Town Hall to give individual permission to each hunter who requests it.

Also at the Town Meeting, voters passed a $3,457,779 town budget, rejecting challenges to two of the largest proposed salary increases.

Town Administrator Kathe Warden will receive a 33 percent raise under the budget adopted on June 13, from $46,589 to $62,000, though she noted that a large part of that increase is a longer working week, from 32 hours to 40 hours.

Judith Dalesandro broke with the rest of the Finance Committee in requesting that voters reject the raise.

“In these hard times, that’s an awful lot of money to ask in one year,” she said. “We couldn’t give everybody what they asked for.”

Warden said she already works a 40-hour week, though she is only paid for 32, as her job is impossible to do on a part-time schedule. She said even at $62,000, she will be one of the lowest-paid full-time town administrators in the area.

Echoing the actions of Blandford Town Meeting voters, Chester agreed to a 21 percent hike in the two-town police budget, which will raise the chief’s salary, increase part-time officers’ hours and wages, hire a part-time administrative assistant and result in more patrol hours. The Finance Committee and several voters opposed the raises as too much of a jump in one year, and proposed a smaller increase.

Voters also agreed to appoint an Energy Committee to study the operations and future needs of the town-owned electric utility, including seeking grants, promoting green energy, and the “advantages, disadvantages and feasibility of merging the Chester Municipal Electric Light Department with a larger electric utility company,” though Selectmen Chair John Baldasaro said “nobody’s saying that we’re selling CMELD, here, that’s not what we want to do.”

The town also voted to support converting the Board of Assessors to appointed positions. The town will have to petition the state Legislature to make the change. If it passes, the current elected assessors would serve out their three-year terms, with each individual then reappointed — or replaced — by a vote of the selectmen.