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Housing and Community Development Director Tara Fikes summarized the information <br /> in the abstract. The cost of rehabilitating these homes has gone up to about $40,000 per <br /> home, so the amount of homes will have to be reduced from 12 to 10. <br /> No public comment. <br /> A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Carey to <br /> close the public hearing. <br /> VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Carey to <br /> approve a change in the dwelling units targeted for repair under the County's Community <br /> Development Scattered Site Housing Rehabilitation Program and authorize the staff to proceed <br /> with grant implementation. <br /> VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 6. Regular Agenda <br /> a. Proposed Animal Ordinance Amendment Restricting the Tethering of Dogs <br /> The Board considered adopting the proposed amendment to the Orange County <br /> Animal Ordinance restricting the tethering of dogs. <br /> Animal Services Director Bob Marotto said that the current draft amendment <br /> incorporated the changes the Board of County Commissioners requested. <br /> PUBLIC COMMENT: <br /> Melissa Fee said that she is against restricting tethering and she and her family have a <br /> dog that is tethered. She said that her dog is definitely not an inside dog and has a 2,000- <br /> square foot area to run around outside. If her dog were put inside, she would have less than <br /> 1,000 square feet to run around. <br /> Brian Fee said that he was at the meeting in May and he is not a dog breeder and he is <br /> not an animal activist. He said that his dog is humanely tethered during the day. He is also <br /> the owner of the dog that Melissa Fee spoke about. The dog is spayed and she has had her <br /> shots. He said that the proposed amendment is not in the best interest of dogs. He also <br /> questions the enforcement of this ordinance. <br /> Suzanne Roy said that Orange County is clearly ready for change and she urged the <br /> County Commissioners to pass this ordinance. <br /> Steve Yuhasz said that he looked at the numbers of cruelty complaints and fewer than <br /> 10% involved tethering. He said that this is a solution in search of a problem. He thinks that <br /> this will work a great hardship on a lot of people who have dogs and who keep them tethered, <br /> who need to keep them tethered during the day while they are at work, and who treat their <br /> dogs humanely. He asked the County Commissioners to not adopt the ordinance amendment. <br /> Tim Wright said that there are no facts in the abstract or background information and <br /> data is extremely limited. He said that this recommendation is based on opinions. He said that <br /> there is already an ordinance on neglect. <br /> Commissioner Foushee said that she is not supportive of this recommendation mainly <br /> for the reasons expressed by Mr. Fee and because she had a dog before that was tethered <br /> and he was treated humanely. She cannot support this recommendation as written. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that he is supportive of this ordinance, and the committee <br /> that did this report did a lot of research and it asked a lot of questions from other counties that <br /> had enacted this. A lot of compromises were incorporated into this recommendation as well. <br />