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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugusta Animal Services Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 17, 2014 Augusta Animal Services Advisory Board Meeting Minutes 09.17.14 Staff present- Sharon Broady, Priscilla Crisler, Edward Jefferson Members present- BB Langham, Jennifer Weaver-White, Debbie Prince, Taylor Bryant, Lorna Barrett, Randy Wishard, Aimee Murphy, Willene Colvin Guests present- Scarlett Timmons, DVM, Deputy Administrator Steve Cassells, Commissioner Grady Smith, City Attorney Kenneth Bray, Augusta Chronicle reporter Tracey McManus, Ms. Sameera Thurmond Absent- Erin Peacher, Linda Finnegan Meeting was called to order at 5:35pm Motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting without reading them was approved 7-0 An agenda for upcoming meetings will be emailed to members and staff before each meeting. Director Broady stated that her proposal package will be submitted to Commissioners for their th Public Safety meeting, on Monday, September 29 at 1:00pm. Members can are encouraged to attend this meeting in the commission chambers. Director Broady handed out a list of fees currently charged for various services, and the proposed changes in them. There was some discussion to decrease rather than increase the fees on some of the services to improve adoptions, i.e. decrease fee for cat adoptions and for litters of kittens. Mr. Cassell suggested a flexibility clause for the fees so that they may be changed more easily. This was made a motion, and accepted with a unanimous vote. Director Broady went on to explain that several services were no longer relevant and would be discontinued. There was some discussion about livestock, and making sure we have resources and referral lists to help find interested parties for animals, as well as to give people with regards to services no longer provided. Attorney Bray went over the revisions to the ordinances with us to make sure we were all on the same page. He removed cats from the section requiring them to wear collars. We agreed to include that safe transport of dogs in the open pick-up truck bed must be in a ventilated container, secured so as not to slide around or be bounced out in the event of a collision. There was much discussion about this and we all agreed that it is the safest way to handle the situation. On tethering, 4-1-36, we agreed with Priscilla Crisler to simplify the ordinance this way-No animal shall be tethered to a stationery object unless in the presence of the owner. Registration of animals will be concurrent with the rabies vaccination due dates, as opposed to January to January. Microchipping is not mandatory. We agreed to delete the statement that the advisory board would be notified of fee revisions by Clerk of Commissions, as we discuss them as a board prior to them being submitted. 4-1-40, c is changed from animal to dog, with regards to collars and tags. We all agreed that the passage of these ordinance revisions is very important. A motion was made and agreed upon to move discussion about our Family Fun Day adoption nd event to October 2 at 5:30pm so we would have more time to discuss it. However, Ms. Colvin said we need to secure funding for vaccines and microchips to have at the event. Mr. Bryant said he would start a gofundme account for this purpose. Funds received over and above what is needed for our purposes are to be put in a donation account for Animal Services, if approved by commissioners. Director Broady will check into this. A motion was made and approved to accept a flyer created by Ms. Weaver-White about the event, so we could get it out to the public. If anyone has any updates, questions concerning FFD, please contact Ms. Crisler or Ms. Weaver-White. Director Broady handed out copies of the requested Budget and Job Descriptions to all board members for review. The description for the Adoption Coordinator position has not been finalized yet with Human Resources. Pay scales can be found online. Agenda item #6, regarding animals used for experimentation and/or research, was tabled due th to legal reasons, and will be on the agenda for our November 19 meeting. Mr. Langham requested clarification and discussion about a complaint of aggressive dogs at the corner of Chester Ave. and Reese Ave. These dogs are chained and dangerous. Mr. Jefferson said he has been there several times, but does not have justifiable cause to cite or proceed with criminal charges. He suggested that taking pictures or videos of things going on there would definitely help. Mr. Langham feels that there may be dog fight training going on there, as well as other criminal activity, and is very concerned that “all hell is going to break lose” at this address in the near future. He stated that the people at this address have criminal records and are under surveillance, and hopes that this address could be put first if there are calls about it. He is told by citizens that dummy dogs are used there for training fight dogs. Dummy dogs are in fact live dogs that are used as bait, usually disabled with tape or pulling out their teeth, so they do not hurt the fight dog. Dog fighting is a felony charge and the Sheriff’s Dept must be involved in any investigation regarding this type of situation. Mr. Jefferson reminded people that when calling in a complaint, to be sure to have an address. He can help with that if necessary, using maps, to locate a particular address. He also said that the noise ordinance will help in these types of cases, but that they are an issue for the Sheriff’s Dept to handle. #3-6-2, d and e. Mr. Langham reminded everyone that our election of officers will take place at our November th 19 meeting, and suggested that everyone start thinking about who they will nominate for the three offices. This is a meeting that we need 100% attendance if it is at all possible. He stated that Director Broady will email Ms. Barrett the ballot information so that we will have it available for future votes. Mr. Langham suggested that we make nominations at this meeting, however Mrs. Barrett suggested that since two board members, including vice chair Ms. nd Finnegan, was absent, that we make the nominations an agenda item at the October 2 meeting. We discussed the possibility of moving the meeting night, in hopes of better attendance for more members. However, after some discussion, the only options are Wednesday and Thursday nights. It was suggested that we could even rotate between Wed and Thurs evenings. We decided to discuss it further when all members are present. nd A discussion about grants as new business will be added to the agenda for our October 2 meeting. nd Next meeting, October 2, will be mostly about Family Fun Day, but we will also have nominations for officers, discuss meeting nights and possible grants. th Family Fun Day adoption event is scheduled for October 11 . th The November meeting is scheduled for November 19. Meeting was adjourned at 7:45pm