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Agenda - 09-05-2013 - 5a
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Agenda - 09-05-2013 - 5a
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BOCC
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9/5/2013
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Regular Meeting
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Agenda
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5a
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Minutes 09-05-2013
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20 <br /> 1 The North Carolina General Statute §153A-45 provides that in order for an ordinance to be adopted on its <br /> 2 first reading it "must receive the approval of all the members of the Board of Commissioners. If the <br /> 3 ordinance is approved by a majority of those voting but not by all the members of the board... it shall be <br /> 4 considered at the next regular meeting of the board." The Board then has 100 days after introduction of the <br /> 5 ordinance to adopt the change to the Ordinance. <br /> 6 <br /> 7 Staff Attorney Annette Moore said that if this is approved, the advisory board would like to take this <br /> 8 to Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and the small portion of Durham in Orange County. <br /> 9 Bob Marotto said the board has resisted the scope creep of creating new laws. He said there was <br /> 10 one exception to this, where a recommendation was made for an amendment on animal recovery. This <br /> 11 amendment requires a micro-chip fee for dogs and cats recovered for the first time; a refundable <br /> 12 sterilization deposit for people whose pets have been impounded and recovered two times; and a <br /> 13 differential recovery fee structure for the recovery of animals sterilized, versus those that are reproductive- <br /> 14 with higher rates for non-sterilized animals. He said this was done to address the pet overpopulation in the <br /> 15 county and reduce reliance on euthanasia. <br /> 16 <br /> 17 PUBLIC COMMENT: <br /> 18 Allan Green is an Orange County farmer. He addressed several handouts at the Commissioner's <br /> 19 places and read from the following statement: <br /> 20 I want to thank the commissioners for this opportunity to speak. I am Allan Green, an Orange <br /> 21 County farmer, and member of the Agriculture Preservation Board (APB), although I am not here tonight <br /> 22 representing the Board. <br /> 23 I will be addressing two related issues described in the background material I provided to you. The <br /> 24 first originated over 4 years ago, on March 3�d 2009 when an ice storm shorted out our electric fence. One <br /> 25 of our small Dexter cows went through the fence, and was grazing outside my fences next to Orange Grove <br /> 26 road on property I partially own. A helpful passer-by called Animal Control, and even though the cow was <br /> 27 quickly confined, I was cited and subsequently fined because my cow as at-large, and by definition, a public <br /> 28 nuisance. Because the animal represented no real nuisance or public danger, I appealed to both the <br /> 29 manager and director of Animal Services; but they refused to void the citation, citing the language of our <br /> 30 ordinance: an animal at-large is a public nuisance, period. <br /> 31 As a farmer, this narrow definition seemed inconsistent with my experience and common sense, <br /> 32 and worth investigating. I began by researching similar provisions of the animal control ordinances of <br /> 33 surrounding counties. Attachment 2 summarizes the results: including our 10 neighboring counties, only <br /> 34 Orange County categorically defines at at-large animals as a nuisance, at least in unincorporated <br /> 35 jurisdictions. While ordinances vary, our neighboring counties reserve violations for actual nuisance <br /> 36 behavior while an animal is at-large. I then brought the issue to the APB, and in March 2010, our <br /> 37 chairperson met with the ASAB and requested a meeting to discuss our position. <br /> 38 Which brings be to my second issue. Attachment 1 is Director Marotto's response to that request. <br /> 39 He describes the issue as a waste of staff resources and unnecessary because animal control officers have <br /> 40 the discretion we are recommending. But, that is not what our ordinance says, and no discretion was <br /> 41 exercised in my case in 2009. Keeping and ordinance on the books so that it can be selectively enforced is <br /> 42 simply wrong. <br /> 43 I am therefore asking the Commissioners to direct Animal Services staff and the Animal Services <br /> 44 Advisory Board to work cooperatively with the Agriculture Preservation Board to make our Animal Control <br /> 45 Ordinance more consistent with the realities of rural life. Thank you. <br /> 46 <br /> 47 Ed Johnson lives on 60 acres of land in the Orange Grove community. He said this proposed <br /> 48 ordinance is not ready yet and needs more work. He said last year, two of his dogs were declared vicious <br /> 49 animals, when an intruder came into his yard and one of his dogs bit the intruder during a confrontation. <br /> 50 The intruder ran away, and later, without revealing a past criminal record for trespassing, the intruder filed a <br /> 51 complaint against Ed Johnson. He said that state law allows an animal to be declared dangerous and has <br /> 52 a built in appeal process, while the county ordinance has a provision for vicious animals and has no appeal <br /> 53 process. He said it is unclear to him how animal control can make the decision between calling an animal <br /> 54 dangerous or vicious. He wrote to animal control pointing out that the county ordinance does not allow an <br />
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