ASAB minutes 031908 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Animal Services Advisory Board Meeting Approved Minutes March 19, 2008 Page 3 • A motion was made by Jean Ausitn and seconded by Kris Bergstrand to remove “a timely manner” and replace with “no later than the end of the following quarter” in item 16 of page 5. VOTE: Unanimous One item that has not been resolved yet is with the requirement for general liability insurance. A survey was done with the five rescue groups, all of which indicated that it would not inhibit them to work with the Orange County Animal Shelter. A question was then raised whether smaller rescue groups would be impeded by the requirement. Research is currently being done to get a general cost of what the insurance would be and that information will be brought back to the board for further discussion. Foster Program Report—Jess Allison reported that a meeting was held on January 31, 2008, and it was decided to provide the activity reports to the Animal Services Advisory Board committee on a sixmonth basis rather than onemonth basis. Staff and committee members discussed the growth of the program and identified areas that require improvements to the Foster Program forms. There were edits made in enclosure A of the guidelines and home visit checklist, interview and application that were shown in the handout provided to the board members. Bob Marotto reported that there is a limited ability to invest in the foster program but that the program can be maintained. The discussion with staff indicated that to try and grow the program would exceed our human resources and we should take the time that we do have available and invest it in the relationships with placement partners and rescue groups and to work towards building bridges with the community. A motion was made by Jean Ausitn and seconded by Kris Bergstrand to adopt and accept the amendments in both Foster Home Policy and Procedures of Enclosures A & C. VOTE: Unanimous Ms. Allison gave an overview of the January and February 2008 statistical summaries. It was pointed out that February adoptions were lower than January and it appears that March’s will also be low. This is a concern and there was a brief discussion that mentioned factors such as the price of gas and economy. New Business—Bob Marotto reported that the appearance of the current Animal Shelter and access to it would change as a result of a remediation project being conducted by UNC. He stressed that it would be very important to keep the public informed that the Animal Shelter was continuing to operate on its normal schedule, and asked that the ASAB help to communicate to members of the public is open and operating with normal hours of business. 20082009 Budget Update—Bob Marotto reported that he has been asked to prepare a continuation budget, which amounts to approximately a $1.6 million dollar operating budget for the fiscal year. He further noted that Animal Services has requested five new full time positions (some of which are conversions of temporary funds). He also noted that a significant concern is the compliance of animal control vehicles with the “transportation standards” set out in the Animal Welfare Act of the State of North Carolina. (which indicates that compartment temperature must be between 50 and 85 degrees). Thus fleet renewal with compliant boxes is an important objective for Animal Services in the County’s budget process.