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APPROVED 11/19/2442 MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />September 3, 2402 <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met on September 3, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern <br />Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, <br />Alice M. Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis and Moses Carey, Jr. <br />COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and S. Sean Borhanian <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod Visser, <br />Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff <br />members will be identified appropriately below} <br />NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT <br />AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. <br />1. ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA <br />Item 9-b2 was added - "Report and Action on Growth Controls in Large Residential Projects." <br />PUBLIC CHARGE <br />The Board of Commissioners pledges to the citizens of Orange County its respect: The Board asks <br />its citizens to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner, both with the Board and with <br />fellow citizens. At any time should any member of the Board or any citizen fail to observe this <br />public charge, the Chair will ask the offending person to leave the meeting until that individual <br />regains personal control. Should decorum fail to be restored, the Chair will recess the meeting until <br />such time that a genuine commitment to this public charge is observed. <br />2. CITIZEN & AUDIENCE COMMENTS <br />a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda <br />There were 13 speakers signed up to speak about the Animal Protection Society, but the <br />Chair only allowed four people to speak due to the number of items on the printed agenda. The Board of <br />County Commissioners will be referring this issue to the staff and will direct which forum will be available <br />to the public to make these matters known. <br />Margie Huggins distributed a handout to the Board of County Commissioners. She read from <br />the handout. She lives in Chapel Hill and has adopted an animal from the Orange County Animal <br />Protection Society. She understands that it is a difficult task to run a shelter and has the utmost respect <br />for those involved. However, many people in the community have concerns about some of the practices <br />and oversight at the shelter. She is an attorney and she has spoken to several other lawyers and <br />citizens who share her concern over the appeals process and the lack of specific written guidelines. It is <br />critical that guidelines for matters such as adoptions and dangerous dog designations be available both <br />for public information and to ensure that the APS is consistent in their decision-making. She asked the <br />Board of County Commissioners in their contract with APS to require the APS to adhere to the open <br />meetings law. She made reference to a quote from Mrs. Walters in the Durham paper as follows, "The <br />APS is no more aquasi-governmental agency than a cleaning service is." She said that this is perhaps <br />misguided. She said that this agency operates as an arm of the County and makes discretionary <br />decisions for the good of the public and the animals. She said that Mrs. Walters also commented that <br />the community did not want to see the work of one person bring down the work of many. She said that <br />no one person is trying to bring down the work of many. To the contrary, many are calling for increased <br />accountability sa that the goad work can continue to be done. One of her areas of practice is animal law <br />and she is willing to step forward and commit to helping establish or serve on a task force to address <br />same of these concerns. <br />Stacy Hughes represents the APS and Wildlife Center and said that she is proud to be a part <br />of the APS. She does have concerns about internal issues -disease control, lack of medical support for <br />