Minutes - 20021028 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Public Comment: Joe LoBuglio said that he is involved with the Piedmont Wildlife Center. He said that there will be two organizations that are interested in wildlife, but they will be vastly different. The Piedmont Wildlife Center is emphasizing a new level of research and rehabilitation that has not been the vision of the APS. The APS is still not contracting services out to vets. The Piedmont Wildlife Center will be raising awareness of the needs of wildlife, to have a comprehensive research program, to germinate other wildlife centers by coordinating with the vet schools, and to be a comprehensive center in Orange County. He has been involved with this wildlife center since the beginning, and the volunteers are so involved and enthusiastic and he feels this center will be a great asset. Kris Bergstrand is a vet in Chapel Hill and said that she seconds what Joe LoBuglio said. She said that they are ready to get this center off to a great start. She said that they know that they will not be able to have the full budget in their hands in the spring. They are prepared to be accepting animals in a temporary location. James Glover said that his wife is a member of the APS board. He thinks that the Piedmont Center is great and he hopes it works. He asked where the money is coming from. There is always more vision than money. The APS budget was $100,000 and they never used any taxpayers' money. The State legislature has decided to solve the major budget crisis by pretending they did not raise taxes and sending the burden back to the County. He does support this center. If the effort that has been going on for four months attacking the APS had been spent raising money then maybe they would start to get the center done. He said that Dr. Bergstrand called the Department of Agriculture in October and made complaints about the quality of the APS shelter and brought a federal government official who traveled three hours to do an emergency inspection. He said that she has never been to the shelter. He said that the problem is money and the way to solve the problem is to go to work and not say, "Give me your land and give me your taxes." Dr. Elliot Cramer said that he wanted to reply about the comment about the halfway home. He thinks that the idea of a halfway home is extremely naive and is driven by a collector mentality. He said that, given the large number of animals that have to be euthanized, the halfway house will be filled within two months and the euthanasia rate will be where it was before. He said that he was at the last APS board meeting and it was said that the wildlife center would be reopened in March. His opinion is that the APS wildlife center will never reopen because it cannot compete with the kind of ideas that were put forward for the Piedmont Wildlife Center. He said that he is not an Orange County resident, but he will become a member of the wildlife center. He urged the Board of County Commissioners to give a modest amount of support far this wildlife center. Judith Reitman, an APS member, said that she does support Bobby Schopler. She said that the issue of vision and money is true. It is an issue of money. The County has been supplying nearly $500,000 to APS and there will be testimony tonight that this money has been used in questionable ways. She said that this money could be better used to support an organization that has ethical and competent management and vision. She supports the Piedmont Wildlife Center. Amanda Stipe, the Animal Control Officer for Carrboro and a certified Wildlife Damage Control Agent, said that with the closing of the wildlife center, there has been an increased burden on the wildlife and herself as an animal control officer. She said that Dr. Schopler has a well thought out vision, and she especially likes the educational aspect of the proposal. She agrees that there is a need, but she is not sure if there are