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101719 Randolph County Office of theCounty Manager 725 McDowell Road Asheboro, North Carolina 27205 www.randolphcountync.gov Animal Services Advisory Board Minutes October 17, 2019 The Randolph County Animal Services Advisory Board met in regular session at 6:00 p.m. in the Randolph County Office Building Meeting Room A, 725 McDowell Road, Asheboro, NC. Commissioner David Allen, Lisa Sparks, Cynthia Grantham, April Wilburn, Sgt. Lawrence Albright, Misty Hinshaw, Jason Balder, and Lou Wilson were in attendance. Also present were Ex Officio member County Manager Hal Johnson and Clerk to the Board Sarah Pack. Commissioner Darrell Frye and J.R. Beard were absent. The Veterinarian seat is vacant at this time. Call to Order and Opening Comments Commissioner David Allen called the meeting to order and welcomed the Board members. Lou Wilson made a motion to adopt the minutes of the August 15, 2019, meeting and was seconded by Cynthia Grantham. Public Comment Period Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 153A-52.1, Commissioner Allen opened the floor for public comment and closed it after everyone wishing to speak had done so. There were no public comments. Animal Services Directory Recruitment Update Hal Johnson gave an update on recruitment efforts for a Director of the newly established Animal Services department. He said the County is actively recruiting statewide and has had a number of good applicants. The position had previously been offered to a well-qualified individual who withdrew their candidacy for personal reasons. Mr. Johnson had hoped to introduce a new director at the October meeting. He stated that a lot depends on having the right person for the job and said that the “County is committed to having a top quality Animal Services department in Randolph County.” The County Manager and Commissioners are committed to finding the right director and that buy-in is needed to establish a successful department. Mr. Johnson predicted that a year from now Randolph County will have one of the best Animal Services departments in the state. He wanted the Board to know that applicants are being told the same things. Commissioner Allen noted that the delay in hiring is not due to anyone dragging their feet. The applicant being considered for the position took several weeks to make a decision and this caused a delay in the hiring process. Lou Wilson said she appreciated the recruitment committee taking the time to find the right candidate. Mr. Johnson agreed and said the new director needs to be both a facility and personnel manager and ideally would have some type of law enforcement experience. Telephone: 336-318-6300 Mr. Johnson walked the Board members through their agenda packet. Included was a copy of the vacancy announcement for the Director position (Attachment A following these minutes). He stated that the perfect candidate would be able to balance the management of both people and programs and would have a vision to guide the department into the future. The packet also contained a list of current Animal Services staff and positions (Attachment B). Mr. Johnson noted his appreciation for Public Health and their cooperation during the phased approach to making Animal Services an independent department. He said that an important part of the transition was having the director in place. He stated that the Commissioners approved substantial additional funding for the new department, above and beyond last year’s annual budget. He pointed out a document created by Susan Hayes that detailed current shelter operations (Attachment C). This document explained current programs and procedures and would act as a starting point for the new director. Animal Services Budget Overview Mr. Johnson said that the new budget reflects the commitment of the County to improve the programs and procedures at Animal Services. Staff positions have been added and funding needs have been addressed with nearly $300,000 budgeted in addition to current expenses. $150,000 has been allotted for facility improvement and expansion, which will occur by decision of the new director (Attachment D). The new director will also staff the available positions. The total budget for Animal Services now comes to a little over a million dollars. Mr. Johnson said that the budget may be adjustable with consultation of the Board and the Director. He pointed out two documents in the agenda packets that showed basic budgeting information for Animal Services, including Field and Shelter Operations (Attachment E). Once the Director is in position, the department will become independent. Mr. Johnson pointed out that the statistical documents in the packets reflected high numbers of intake and euthanasia, but the downward trend in those statistics showed a positive trend; the numbers are shrinking, meaning improvements have been made (Attachments F and G). The last item in the packet was a Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspection report (Attachment H). This is a state report detailing the compliance and statistics gathered by Animal Services. Mr. Johnson said that budgetary numbers in the aforementioned documents were subject to change with the creation of the standalone department. Money may be moved between line items depending on the needs of the department. Board Discussion Mr. Johnson opened the floor for discussion by the Board and asked for thoughts and ideas regarding the qualities the Board would like to see in a new Director. Ms. Wilson asked if the shelter had the ability to scan microchips, and, if so, were records being kept on scanned chips. Mr. Johnson said the shelter does scan microchips and that data is recorded. Ms. Wilson suggested building a website in order to improve the ability of citizens to check on stray and adoptable animals. She said it may be possible to speak with students at Randolph Community College (RCC) to see if this may be a good project opportunity for them. She requested permission of the Board to speak with students at RCC. Mr. Johnson and Commissioner Allen supported this request. Cynthia Grantham noted that the Adoption Coordinator position was vacant and suggested that this position, once filled, could act as a public information office for the shelter. This would allow information to reach the public and lines of communication would be open with someone in-house. She also said that Public Health Educators are a great resource for reaching the community. April Wilburn said that Public Health has an in-house information technology (IT) person with a graphic design background who may be able to assist in website development. Mr. Johnson asked if there currently was a website. Ms. Wilburn said that there is a website for adoptions. Misty Hinshaw added that including lost and found pets is a necessity. Lisa Sparks advised the Board to make an effort to work with Public Health while waiting for the recruitment of a new director. Ms. Grantham agreed and said that while many people are in favor of a separate department, Public Health has a lot to bring to the table in regards to education and history. Mr. Johnson highlighted that Ms. Wilson was suggesting a better way to identify animals coming in to and going out of the shelter. He said the first step is knowing “who’s there” at the shelter. Ms. Wilson confirmed his clarification and said that by using a website as a starting point, there would be plenty of options to add on to the site in the future. Ms. Sparks noted that the Animal Shelter has already implemented the ShelterPro software, which has the capability to push pictures and biographies to a website. She said that the shelter may already have an established website that could work in conjunction with ShelterPro. She gave an example of Happy Hills using a software called Pet Point, which pushes entered information to the website. She suggested using the resources that the Animal Shelter already has. Jason Balder suggested that when an Adoption Coordinator is hired, they will become the overseer of the portal. Commissioner Allen reminded the Board that when the government is involved, things tend not to happen quickly. He said there may be purchasing or contract guides that will need to be followed. He agreed that collaborating with the Public Health IT division would be beneficial, as launching the portal may be as simple as a matter of connection. Mr. Balder asked if this individual would require additional compensation and was answered by Ms. Wilburn who said no additional compensation would be required as IT support for Public Health is part of the employee’s job description. She noted that employee Ernie Hall was the individual in this position, and that Ashley Morris was the employee who was working on ShelterPro. Ms. Wilson suggested inviting Mr. Hall to the next meeting. Mr. Johnson appointed a subcommittee, with the agreement of the Board, consisting of Lou Wilson, Misty Hinshaw, and April Wilburn, who will communicate with Public Health’s IT support in order to learn more and to be able to make recommendations to the Board at the next meeting. He said that it appears that the full capability of the current system is not being utilized; the capabilities need to be explored in order to use the software to the maximum capacity. Ms. Wilson suggested keeping a volunteer list on the software. Ms. Sparks said the software has the capability of tracking adopters, volunteers, and strays. Sometimes animals come into the shelter multiple times, and the system would allow for repeat strays to be tracked. Ms. Wilburn said that the new director needs to understand Public Health law including rabies training and continuing education classes if needed. She said it is important to maintain a closed loop of communication with Public Health, particularly in regards to rabies. She told an anecdote involving a kitten and eight citizens who were exposed to rabies. Mr. Johnson asked how an incident like the aforementioned could be avoided in the future. Ms. Wilburn stressed the importance of communication and noted the importance of rabies vaccines and titers for veterinary staff who may come into contact with strays in order to reduce instances of exposure. She said that major rabies information is needed throughout the County, for both veterinary offices and citizens. Commissioner Allen asked if the educational component would be the responsibility of Animal Services or Public Health. Ms. Wilburn said that it should be a combined effort, possibly with the help of the Public Health Educators. Mr. Johnson asked where the failure was that allowed for eight people to be exposed. Ms. Wilburn said the failure was with multiple vets who should have euthanized the kitten promptly once the exposure was recognized. She said it was nearly a month before the kitten was euthanized after it had been found injured and exposed. She stated that a language barrier may have been the cause for an initial delay in treatment and/or euthanasia. Ms. Grantham suggested working with the Courier Tribune in order to educate the public and make the community aware of the dangers of rabies. Mr. Johnson agreed that a new director will prioritize and emphasize rabies education. He asked who gets notified in the instance of rabies exposure. Ms. Wilburn said that the state is notified first. The Communicable Diseases nurses, including Ms. Wilburn herself, will compile a list of exposed individuals and contact all of them. She said that in a positive case, the State will only notify the submitter, but Susan Hayes, Health Director, is working to get that corrected so that local public health departments are notified as well. Mr. Balder said that the new director needs to be a people person who knows how to manage personnel and is socially savvy. The director needs to have an understanding of networking and media and should be able to maintain composure during potentially difficult conversations; this person should exude confidence. Mr. Johnson asked what type of relationship the director should have with law enforcement. Sgt. Lawrence Albright said that the County should look at the qualities of other County directors. The new director will have leaders underneath them, so the chain of command may need to be re-evaluated. He asked if the current job description for animal control officers would be used and noted that there has been effective response and communication with law enforcement by the animal control officers. He referenced Attachment C and said that it was an excellent document for the new director to read and evaluate. He said that the qualifications for the position need to match the new director’s qualifications and there may be training opportunities from the School of Government for the director if needed. Sgt. Albright noted that the new director would need to identify how to proceed and determine how much of the cruelty investigations and seizure work the department would do on its own. He said he has frequently seen animal control officers at the magistrate’s office. He emphasized the importance of a director who is energetic, excited about animals, and innovative in their approach to education. Mr. Johnson agreed and said the new director should be someone who can see the big picture. He said that this position was a complicated one and working in animal services was a complicated business. Ms. Grantham said the director needs to be flexible and have an understanding that not every demand of the department will occur between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Commissioner Allen agreed and said that an experienced person will understand that flexible response is part of the job. He said that a background in shelter management was a necessity and asked if a law enforcement background was equally important. Sgt. Albright said that a law enforcement background was not necessarily important. People underneath the director in the chain of command are put in place for a reason and that finding a jack-of-all-trades would be a tough search. He suggested continuing education as a better option and said that things like driving workshops and qualification with weaponry were the types of continuing education that law enforcement were required to do. Mr. Johnson said that the director should be someone who can handle people in crisis. He said this person will need to be prepared for emotionally charged, potentially volatile situations where people could over or underreact. Ms. Wilburn asked if scenario questions would be included in the interview, where the interviewee would have to think through a situation on the spot. Mr. Johnson said that yes, standard interview questions will be used that include scenarios in order to allow for fair treatment of candidates. Ms. Grantham stressed the importance of providing the new director with access to resources. Mr. Balder agreed and said the director needs not be afraid of relying on their resources. Mr. Johnson said therein lies the value of the Animal Services Advisory Board, as the guidance and insight from the Board would be a great asset for the director. Ms. Wilson said that the main issue with rabies in the County is compliance, and suggested developing a low-cost option for families that may not be able to afford rabies vaccinations. Ms. Sparks pointed out that there are low-cost rabies clinics throughout the County. Ms. Wilburn said the vaccinations at the low-cost clinics typically cost $10. Ms. Sparks added that citizens may not be aware of the prevalence and dangers of rabies. On the issue of vaccinating veterinary personnel for rabies, Sgt. Albright asked if there was a board that non-compliant veterinary practices could be reported to. Ms. Grantham explained that private practices can decline requirement of rabies vaccines by personnel. Ms. Hinshaw suggested an education program for veterinary practices. Ms. Sparks suggested the North Carolina Animal Foundation as a resource for the new director and th said that there often workshops, trainings, and seminars offered, including one on December 18at Public Health. She said there is a minimal annual fee and there are often hundreds of people at the events. Ms. Hinshaw suggested that the new director should consider putting a stop to free adoption events, as the public may not take a free animal as seriously as one they’d have to pay for. She said her rescue often gets calls after events asking if they can take animals because the new owner does not want to return the animal and incur a fine. Adjournment st Commissioner Allen confirmed that the next meeting of the Board would be on November 21at 6:00 p.m. Having no further business, Commissioner Allen closed the meeting at 7:10 p.m. with a motion by Ms. Wilson that was seconded by Mr. Balder. 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