Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
positively according to the contractual obligations. Volunteerism is reported as <br />being up. Donations and contributions and membership support are reported as <br />being very valid and very stable. There is noticeable moral improvement. We <br />recognize that outsourcing is in fact cheaper than administering it internally.. There <br />is the linkage of the County Manager's office and Health Department in providing <br />oversight. There is also recognition that community opinion maybe divided still <br />about this particular' model. Again, we may hear comments in that regard when we <br />do listen to the public later. Some questions do remain as it relates to the relationship <br />between the Orange County Animal Shelter and the adoption center or the halfway <br />house that is now under construction by APS off Nicks Road. There is also the <br />consideration that there is a long term history relationship between the county and <br />APS and the fact of experience in that they have been providing that particular <br />function under contract for quite some time. <br />Under Option B, which is to create an animal services bureau, the task force sees that <br />a bureau is an administrative device that really symbolizes a relationship which isn't <br />necessarily to the public mind govenunental, but it provides an opportunity to create <br />a softer edge as far as any bureaucracy is concerned. It allows the operation to be <br />able to work in a way similar to the Orange County Visitors Bureau.. That for all <br />practical purposes, the operation or the function is seen as in response to the private <br />sectors, in working with hotels and motels and the tourism industry. Through that <br />kind of model, there would be great opportunity the task force considered for the <br />maintenance of the high level of volunteer effort as well as corporate donations, <br />private donations and contributions to support the animal shelter. There could be an <br />advisory board that would be comprised in a way that would also be able to engage <br />more municipal involvement.. There would be some questions about what this <br />particular paradigm shift would represent as far as the public interface,. There would <br />be a need, of course, to redefine what that new relationship would be with APS under <br />that particular option. There would also be the time factor associated with that kind <br />of a start-up and the initial operating costs and all of the other costs associated with <br />start-up and the initial capitalization. <br />Moving on to the last option, Option C is to create a department or division that <br />would report directly to the County Manager's office. The factors that were <br />identified there include an opportunity to be able to join the regulatory function <br />which is animal control with the sheltering activity and to have that contained under <br />one administrative umbrella reporting directly to the County Manager, There would <br />be an opportunity again to be able to centralize and streamline probably <br />programmatic and financial interests.. It will still allow for an advisory body that is <br />similar in respect to that under the bureau model. There would be an opportunity to <br />build upon the existing shelter committee which is now a part of the Board of Health. <br />There would be an opportunity to capitalize under the administrative infrastructure of <br />the county which includes information technology, finance, purchasing azid <br />personneh We recognize that there would be some initial start-up costs as well as the <br />ongoing annual operating expenses. The time required to be able to affect that <br />transition is also a factor to be considered. Again, the need to redefine the <br />