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Animal Services Advisory Board October 15, 2008 Meeting—Approved Minutes Page 3 Monday/Wednesday/Friday, noon to 6:00 p.m.; Tuesday/Thursday, noon-7:30 p.m.; Saturday, noon-5:00 p.m.; and closed on Sunday. UNC Remediation Project—The project is complete and the entranceway and parking areas are now the way they use to be. EARS Realignment—The EARS program was taken over by Animal Control on October 1, 2008. It is done on a two-team rotation for two weeks with each team of two Animal Control Officers having one week off. New Facility—The new facility is expected to open in the first quarter of 2009, and there should be tours of the facility in early November. Value engineering is continuing throughout the construction process given the tight budget of the project and the need to still procure medical equipment and furnishings. Also, there will be an alternative source of wash down water. Well water and rainwater will be gathered in a cistern, treated, and used to disinfect the kennel areas. Questions have emerged as to whether this water will meet the EPA standard for potability, despite the treatment process since early tests showed high levels of certain inorganic compounds. Further research is being done to assess this situation including whether it is necessary to meet the EPA standard for inorganic compounds as well as coliform bacteria. Veterinary and Medical Services at the New Facility—Mr. Brinkley provided members of the board with a handout outlining costs of three different models being considered for staffing the surgical suite and other medical ser vices at the County’s the new facility. The current practice is to send all animals to veterinarians for the spay/neuter surgeries and we contract a veterinarian to come in house to provide other veterinary services. One of the challenges will be to deliver these services through the realignment of available resources because some of these resources may be needed to operate the new facility. Mr. Brinkley noted that staff has already presented the different models to staff from Budget, Purchasing and Human Resources Department for review and feedback. Fiscal Year 09/10 Budget and Service Priorities—Mr. Marotto reported that we would be required to achieve a continuation budget for FY0809, i.e., one without inflationary adjustment or other increases. Assuring that this is the “worst case scenario” will require a lot of work by staff and strong support from the Animal Service Board members, stakeholders, and “friends” in the context of the upcoming budget cycle. We have already been asked to reserve 2 percent of the operating expenses, and even larger reductions in the area of vehicle mileage and fuel usage given the current cost of fuel. We need to work to maintain our budget at the current level and to think about how to obtain and achieve the same objectives with fewer resources. The Animal Services Department has already inventoried services (mandated and non-mandated) Deleted: .