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May 29, 2018 ASAC MinutesMINUTES ANIMAL CARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING May 29, 2018 A Regular Meeting was held by the Animal Care Advisory Committee of the City of Schertz, Texas, on May 29, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. in the Hal Baldwin Municipal Complex Council Chambers Conference Room, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Building # 4, Schertz, Texas. The following members were present: City Council Liaison, Dr. Angelina Kiser Dudley Wait, Executive Director, Acting Chair Brooke Knowlton, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Gerryleah Zavala, Animal Services Manager Lisa Connolly, President, Schertz Humane Society Jackie Gaines, Executive Assistant Michele Helgren, member, not present. Staff Present: Executive Director Brian James Call to Order Dudley Wait called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. Introductions were made to the new Animal Services Manager, Gerryleah Zavala. Dr. Kiser arrived at 1:06 p.m. Mr. Wait stated that within the first four weeks of Ms. Zavala's leadership, her team has increased the number of opportunities to get animals out of the shelter quicker. The Animal Services is also making changes to have animals more visible by opening the second side kennels and allow the public to interact with more animals. Hearing of Residents No residents present. Discussion and /or Action Items 1. Minutes — Consideration and /or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of March 20, 2018. Lisa Connolly made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 20, 2018 meeting. A second was made by Dr. Knowlton. The motion passed unanimously. 2. Appointments and Reappointments — Appointment and reappointment to the Animal Care Advisory Committee for a two -year term, ending June 30, 2020. Mr. Wait stated that as the current ordinance reads, the City Manager appoints the members. At the vote of this committee during the March 20, 2018 meeting, Mr. James approved the letter of request to officially add Michele Helgren to the Animal Care Advisory Committee. Mr. Wait suggested having a seven - member committee to be consistent with other boards and commissions and asked the members to start looking for additional members. Mr. Wait said that the term limits for Dr. Knowlton and Ms. Connolly are expiring and asked each of them if they would like to stay on the board for another term. Dr. Knowlton and Ms. Connolly agreed to be a member of the board for another two -year term. Dr. Kiser made a motion accept the reappointments of Dr. Brooke Knowlton and Lisa Connolly for a two -year term, ending June 30, 2020. Gerryleah seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Discussion on the City Ordinance Regarding Animal Control. Mr. Wait stated that the ordinance is outdated in some areas and asked the committee to read the ordinance and take notes of items they would like to be addressed. Ms. Zavala briefly stated sections of the ordinance she would like to review and update. Ms. Zavala will start imputing changes she would like to see addressed and then send back to the committee for review. Reports/Updates/Discussion and /or Action Items 4. Community Concerns a) Coyotes Ms. Zavala reported that there were only two coyote calls in the last month. b) Snakes Ms. Zavala stated that they have been picking up at least two snakes per day. The department is working with Wildlife Rescue to meet the officers on site to take custody of the snakes and to take to a remote area outside the city. Ms. Zavala is making sure that the snakes are transported correctly and that we have multiple snake containers to ensure the snakes are not co- housing and hurting each other. The department is also educating the public on what to do when they see a snake. Mr. Wait added that there is always an elevation of snakes and coyotes during this time of year, but we are also seeing more snakes and coyotes due to their habitat being disturbed from construction and the city working on drainage ditches. 5. Animal Adoption Center Building Update Mr. Wait reported that the city staff is meeting with the entire development group, which consists of the original architect, the environmental engineer, the builder, and the firm representing the supplier of the HVAC equipment. The issues we are having appear that the original HVAC equipment that was specified is not producing the air that the specifications said that it would. We do not know if it is a design flaw from the company that build the LG equipment, a problem with the way it was installed in the building, or a problem with the specifications on the way it was designed by the engineer and is not appropriate for the building. We have received a composite solution from everyone and are now seeking advice from a construction litigation attorney. The attorney has engaged in a forensic engineer to look at the system in place, look at the original design and provide a synopsis of the system. The results will include why they think it is not Animal Care Advisory Committee Minutes 5 -29 -18 functioning properly, and then an evaluation of their plan as to how to solve the issues to make the system run correctly. This process should start in two to three weeks. The last concern is with the original plan for the building to have two large fans installed in the outside kennels, but fans had to be cut from the design due to the budget constraints. The fans were recently purchased with unused funds from last fiscal year's Animal Control budget and are being installed within two weeks. 6. Trap, Neuter, Release Program Update Ms. Zavala is working with the City of San Antonio's Community Cat Program (CCP Program), and they have authorized the City of Schertz to bring two to three cats per month to them. One resident has over two hundred acres of property and has requested feral barn cats. We are working on getting the adoptable cats out to make room for more cats coming into the kennel. Ms. Zavala, Ms. Connolly, and Dr. Knowlton discussed our cat colonies requirements of re- vaccinating each year and this is causing citizens not wanting to participate. Surrounding cities do not require re- vaccinating. Dr. Knowlton stated the rationale of not vaccinating on an annual basis with feral cats is because they do not live very long in the wild. Mr. Wait suggested changing the policy in our ordinance. 7. Animal Services Staffing Update Ms. Zavala reported that staffing was down by two officers before the part-time kennel attendant was promoted to a full -time officer. This leaves a part-time kennel attendant and one officer position opened. Ms. Zavala is writing an expanded budget for the next fiscal year to request a full - time administrative position to work at the front desk to help with taking pictures, help with adoptions by showing the animals, work on administrative duties, and answer phones for the department. A volunteer had worked the front desk recently and the adoption rate increased dramatically. Ms. Connolly reminded the committee that there are volunteer orientation classes the third Saturday of each month for new volunteers to attend. 8. Animal Services Activity Report Ms. Zavala discussed the report from Pet Point with activity from January, 2018 to current date. The entries for the report are not accurate and Ms. Zavala said that she will look into how the numbers are calculated. Currently, the live release rate is 88.51 %. The report detailed the intake of 229 dogs and 131cats, 78 dog adoptions and 55 cat adoptions, and the return to owner count is 77 dogs and 3 cats. Ms. Zavala and the department has a goal to take pictures of every animal coming into the shelter and immediately post to Facebook, Pet Tango and Pet Finder to reunite the families. Happy and active pets are more adoptable, so playtime is encouraged by using the donated toys for their enrichment. Ms. Zavala announced that every animal is vaccinated upon intake. Animal Care Advisory Committee Minutes 5 -29 -18 Requests and Announcements 9. Announcements by the Executive Director Mr. Wait updated the committee on Champ, the pit bull. Champ has been placed in a foster home and is doing well. 10. Announcements by the Animal Services Manager Ms. Zavala announced that they are working on building a foster program and a rescue base with new partners and ones she has used in the past. Ms. Zavala encouraged everyone to spread the news about watching the social media pages for the posting of dogs and cats, dates of events, and how to become more involve. 11. Announcements by Committee Members None at this time. 12. Requests by Committee Members that items be placed on a future Animal Services Advisory Committee Agenda. Ms. Connolly asked to discuss rabies vaccination for feral cats in connection with the Trap, Neuter, and Release program. The committee is asking to modify the current requirements of having to trap the feral cats each year to only vaccinate on the initial trapping. Ms. Connolly believes that if this requirement changes, then we will have more volunteers with cat colonies. Mr. Wait replied that he and Ms. Zavala will look into what other cities are doing and will reach out to Guadalupe County to discuss options for this particular rule. Adjournment Dudley Wait adjourned the meeting at 2:06 pm. Dudley ait ecutive Director ATTEST: Gaines, Executive Animal Care Advisory Committee Minutes 5 -29 -18