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HomeMy WebLinkAboutASAB minutes 051910 Animal Services Advisory Board (ASAB) Approved Minutes for May 19th, 2010 Meeting Present ASAB Members: Jean Austin, Susan Elmore, Kris Bergstrand, Suzanne Roy and Tracy Carroll Absent ASAB Members: Bonnie Norwood, Mike Nelson and Daniel Textoris Others in Attendance: Animal Services Director Bob Marotto, Shelter Manager Jess Allison, and Administrative Assistant, Paula Ragan. Public Members Present: None Welcome and Opening Comments—ASAB Chair, Jean Austin called the meeting to order. Motion was made by Kris Bergstrand and seconded by Jean Austin to adopt the Agenda dated May 19th 2010. VOTE: Unanimous. Motion was made by Susan Elmore and seconded by Jean Austin to approve the minutes dated March 17, 2010 with a few typographical changes. VOTE: Unanimous Old Business— ASAB Membership- Mr. Marotto reported that our newest board member, Katie Brooks tendered her resignation and would be moving out of state. There are now five vacant positions and in order to have a quorum there must be a total of five members present for each meeting. It was noted that the position vacated by DeWana Anderson would be filled when the Health Board fills the veterinarian position; the mandated boards are continuing to fill positions. Mr. Marotto did make a request to the Clerk’s office to grant an exception to fill other positions since we are having difficulty in meeting our quorum but that request was denied. Mr. Marotto did confirm with the Clerk’s office that there would be no other appointments before September 2010 while the BOCC was reviewing the process of all county boards. Placement Partner Agreement- Jess Allison provided a handout for the “Plan for Implementation of Placement Partner Program Guidelines and Memorandum of Understanding with Rescue Organizations”. This is the final phase before implementation. There will be three phases during the roll out, once the County Manager approves the document discussions will begin in order to implement the agreements with rescue groups that we currently use. The Shelter Manager will personally be Page 2 of 4 ASAB Approved Summary May 19, 2010 working with each group, current as well as new rescue groups in order to make it a positive and smooth transition. Nuisance Animal Ordinance and Farm Animal Reports— Motion was made by Jean Austin and seconded by Kris Bergstrand to accept the Farm Animal and Animal Nuisance Ordinance, “A Report of the Animal Services Advisory Board dated April 19, 2010”. VOTE: Unanimous The County Manager’s office will be provided with the report along with a cover letter for submittal to the Board of County Commissioners. Mr. Marotto reported that the Judge found Mr. Greene in violation of the existing regulation, which we declined to recommend a revision about. Manager’s Recommended Budget— Bob Marotto provided a handout of the County Manager’s budget for Animal Services. There will be two public hearings and a number of work sessions, which the public is welcome. The BOCC will have an approved budget in June. There was a total of $175,000 in reductions. Some of those reductions will be in the spay/neuter program; in house spay neuter, medical supplies, animal related supplies, cat trapping etc. There was one permanent position cut with no layoffs and a reduction in the temporary line item by $6,000 that would of gone in to the in-house spay/neuter. Animal Services has worked hard with staff and others to sustain a quality program in a cost conscious way and we continue to do that as we go forward. Animal Services Advisory Board Review— Per the request of the ASAB members, Jean Austin contacted Liaison, Mike Nelson and he responded saying that he thought the board was doing a pretty good job. He felt that we are dealing with realities of financial limitations and evaluating things in a realistic fashion when issues or concerns were brought to the board. He expressed that the ASAB board had a delicate balance between advocacy and pragmatism. Bob Marotto provided a handout from Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board, which provides an evaluation process for boards and commissions. A few of the procedural matters from the April 13th work session included some of the following: only appointments that can be made at this time would be for the mandated boards and multi-jurisdictional (external) boards, to leave vacancies unfilled on internal boards/commissions and subject to further review, to remove designated liaisons (BOCC member) from the county’s internal boards, allowing commissioners to attend, as they wish, of the various board meetings. Up to 3 BOCC members may attend. Annual reports will inform the BOCC of the past yearly activities and summaries of board meetings will be produced and sent to the Clerk to the Board of Commissioners. Page 3 of 4 ASAB Approved Summary May 19, 2010 Bi-monthly schedules— Motion was made by Jean Austin and seconded by Kris Bergstrand that effective our next scheduled meeting July 21st, 2010, that meetings will be held every other month instead of monthly from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., the extra half an hour is in case more time is needed to complete certain tasks. The intention is to be adjourned by 8:00 p.m. if possible. VOTE: Unanimous Animal Services Updates— Brian Hare Lecture— Mr. Hare’s lecture on dogs and evolution was very well received, approximately 45-50 people attended and we are hoping to have him back in the future. This is the second public speaker Animal Services has had this year. A third speaker is scheduled to come in the third quarter. Rabies Clinic— Mr. Marotto reported that a low cost rabies clinic was held on May 18, 2010, it was very successful with a total of 71 vaccinations administered. This was the fourth clinic held this year. There have only been two confirmed rabies cases through the end of April 2010. Tethering Amendment— Mr. Marotto reported that as of today it has been one year and we will be fully enforcing the amendment starting tomorrow. Animal Control Officers will be following up on prior actions that have been taken and will continue to work with citizens and start considering issuing citations for those not working towards being compliant. In the first year Animal Control has issued 125 warnings, 60 are requiring follow up. A review was done at 9 months and the feedback from Animal Control Officer’s was that citizens were being referred to the Coalition but were finding that they were not able to tap in to the resource in Orange County. The expectation was that Animal Services would receive resources and assistance from the Coalition as part of the Tethering Amendment. Suzanne Roy offered to research this further to determine how we can get assistance to the citizens of Orange County. Open House— Jess Allison reported that the Open House will be held on Saturday, June 5, 2010 from 2:00-4:00 p.m.. Those planning to participate will be Animal Kind $20 Fix, Pet Overpopulation Mobile unit will be open for tours, Orange Counties CAMET, County Emergency Rescue, Equine Rescue Group and lots more planned. There will be educational and informational materials available as handouts. There will be artwork donated by local artist which will be raffled off, magician, food and for those interested the opportunity to observe spay/neuter surgeries. Animal Services will being doing lots of advertising and media releases in order to have a more successful Open House event. Page 4 of 4 ASAB Approved Summary May 19, 2010 Statistical Reports— Jess Allison provided members with a handout of the March and April 2010 Statistical Reports for review. The numbers for intakes and adoptions continue to be low compared to last year at the same time. Mr. Marotto reported that he believes that some factors include targeted spay/neuter, out of county surrender fees and that winter weather may of contributed to the reproduction numbers being lower. Stray Animal Holding Period— Mr. Marotto reported that Animal Services staff has been discussing and considering the possibility of changing the holding time for stray animals. Currently the shelter holds stray animals for 8 days. The State Statue requires a 3-day holding period and the Animal Ordinance requires 5-day holding period. During the review Animal Services believes that there are a lot of animals held for 8 days that are never adopted due to medical conditions or behavior. The focus and concern are the non- adoptable animals, not the adoptable animals. Animal Services would like to change the hold time to 5 days; this would be set by ordinance during which the facility is open to the public for 3 days. This would satisfy the legal hold for animals and would ensure it gives owners enough time to reclaim their animals if on vacation or during the holidays. Considering the reduction in budget restraints and resources this is a more efficient and more humane.. Motion was made by Susan Elmore and seconded by Kris Bergstrand to adjourn meeting at 8:15 p.m. VOTE : Unanimous Next ASAB Meeting: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 6:30 p.m-8:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Conference Room of the new Animal Services Center, 1601 Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill.