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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/14/2017 Study Session Meeting Minutes MRA NA AZ E STAB L I SHED 1977 MARANA TOWN COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MEETING MINUTES 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana, Arizona 85653 Council Chambers, March 14, 2017, at or after 6:00 PM Ed Honea, Mayor Jon Post, Vice Mayor David Bowen, Council Member Patti Comerford, Council Member Herb Kai, Council Member Carol McGorray, Council Member Roxanne Ziegler, Council Member STUDY SESSION CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL. Mayor Honea called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council Member Kai was seated at 6,-06 p.m. All Council Members were present. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE. Led by Mayor Honea. APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Post, second by Council Member Bowen. Passed unanimously. CALL TO THE PUBLIC. Mayor Honea announced that the Call to the Public would be held after the staff presentation and before Council discussion. Speakers were Bonny Harris, Continental Ranch. Save rate is 90% at PACO, Higher rates even though the voters supported PACC. Kristi Holliger, Continental Ranch. In favor of PACC. Beth Neuman, Continental Ranch. Stay with PACO. Concerned about emergency services for stray pets, also a veterinarian and her limitations. Not enough time to prepare. Kathy Neuman, 7-year volunteer and not a Marana resident, but asked for continued support for PACO. Susan Maq'cz from Dove Mountain and a 4 1/2 year volunteer at PACO, most of which was in the vet services area. Katie Powers, president of Spay and Neuter solutions, Continental Ranch. Nancy M. March 14,2017 Study Session Minutes Wright, Oro Valley, a member of several animal rights organizations. Pamela Youngberg, Dove Mountain in support of PACC. DISCUSSION/DIRECTION/POSSIBLE ACTION DI Relating to Animal Control; discussion, direction and possible action regarding the provision of animal control services within the Town of Marana,, including consideration of continuing the Town's contractual relationship with Pima Animal Care Center (P1 CC) and/or direction to pursue alternatives to PACC for animal control services (/Lisa Shafer) Introduced by Gilbert Davidson. The driver behind this issue is making sure our residents receive exceptional services for their taxes. We care about and want the most humane treatment of animals in our community. This issue is not about saving money at the expense of animals. Pima Animal Control (PACC) does many great things. Marana's contract is for enforcement services and that is the feature of our discussion. We want to provide responsive customer service to residents. The question before us is what other options are available besides county I There are two opt' services that will help us give better service. ions. We can continue our contract with Pima County or we can discontinue our contract with Pima County and contract with the Humane Society of Southern Arizona for sheltering services and the town would take 1 1 1 on enforcement services. The staff presentations began with Jane Fairall giving an overview of the legal requirements for animal control,, including the state statutes for vaccinations, licensing, control and/or impoundment of stray dogs and provisions for vicious animals. Although the statutes are somewhat vague., staff has looked at what they believe to be the legislative intent and remain within the spirit of the law. She also noted that the Pima County Animal Control Code provisions do not apply to the town or any incorporated cities and towns within the county. And those provisions are at issue. In the Marana Town Code, Title 6, all areas listed in state statute are addressed, plus some. If Option 2 is chosen by Council, it will require some provisions in the town code to be rewritten to reflect changes in the administration and enforcement services. Ms. Fairall then described Option I and the purpose and terms of the contract with Pima County. She noted that the new IGA has more detail that previous agreements regarding the services the county would provide. Next, she covered the Option I costs and the estimates for FY 2017 and 2018, The town gets a quarterly report from the county on the expenses. Currently, the projection is that Marana will pay $230K for FY 2017 and FY 2018 will be $215,900. This includes charges for services and indirect services and expenses such as administrative service charges, indirect service expenses and operations and maintenance as well as spay and neuter services. The town is currently operating under the 2014 IGA with the County which removed the ability for the town to opt out of that cost. The trap, neuter, release project was overturned in 2014. In the 2018 contract, that cost is programmed in. Lisa Shafer then described Option 2. This option brings everything in-house and we would not be contracting with the county for these services. She gave a breakdown of the town's responsibilities ' ng the addition of personnel, equipment, licensing, and emergency bil'ties Includ'I March 14,2017 Study Session Minutes 2 veterinary services. Sheltering, basic animal care and marketing and outreach would be done under a contract with the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. The result of the research over the past year indicates that animal control is done in a variety of ways in other jurisdictions. In her visits to other jurisdictions, she was able to compare how other municipalities manage animal control services. Common service calls are for barking dogs, loose dogs, dead animals in the road, dog bites, animals left in vehicles, animal welfare checks and police assistance. The average response for a call is 30 minutes within Marana and didn't require additional backup from police or other public safety personnel. Shelter provider services would include acceptance of strays from enforcement officers or residents, acceptance of owner-released pets for a fee, animal adoptions, public education and spay/neuter and vaccination clinics. Erik Montague described the request for proposal process for a sheltering facility and adjunct services. The Finance Department worked with many departments to define the overall scope of services. Some of the elements included that the contractor shall accept animals that are brought in by Marana Animal Control or town residents; provide the best possible care for accepted animals which comply with uniform animal sheltering guidelines; assume financial responsibility for unclaimed pets held past the required hold period; and partner with the town on education, outreach, vaccination and licensing. one proposal was received within the designated time from the Humane Society of Southern Arizona ( [SSA). Based on their proposal their live release rate is 95% and is slightly higher than Pima County. A. key element is the outreach element which will require a considerable effort by the town to reach out to the community, partly due to the addressing challenges within the town. Staff has been compiling estimates to provide services for enforcement and sheltering. He provided the estimated startup costs during the current fiscal year as well as ongoing costs for future fiscal years. For two personnel, a vehicle and equipment, sheltering and emergency veterinary services, .ACO personal safety, animal capture equipment, ACO training, and licensing software the cost is estimated to be $156K this year and $212K in ongoing years. It is anticipated that revenue from licensing will grow from approximately $75K which will reduce costs. Collections under options 2 would be received and maintained by the contractor. The town is not expecting a cost reduction by providing the services. we are considering option 2 primarily to control the service level and to be proactive regarding animal care services and determining what services to provide rather than being reactive to any event. Gilbert Davidson discussed possible next steps. option 1 is the renewal of our services with the County. If this option is chosen, we might still want some clarification and possible negotiation on terms. Also, with option 1, we have until June 30, 2017 for review and consideration. Option 2 has a number of different tracks we would have to begin immediately, including continued discussion with the LSSA regarding licensing, advertising for personnel, acquiring a vehicle and equipment and advertising. Speakers from. the public, most of whom were in favor of the town staying with PA.CC, included volunteers at PACO and residents from Continental Ranch, Dove Mountain, the county and oro Valley. They were Bonny Harris, Christy Holliger, Beth Neuman a veterinarian in Continental Ranch, Kathy Neuman, a 7-year volunteer and not a Marana resident, Susan Mari cz from Dove Mountain and a 4 1!2 year volunteer at pACC, Nancy M. Wright, President of Spay and Neuter Solutions, oro valley, and Pamela Youngberg, Dove Mountain. March 14,2017 Study Session Minutes 3 After the Call to the public, the Mayor opened the discussion to Council and staff. Protracted Council discussion continued regarding the pros and cons of establishing town services versus entering into another IGA with Pinna County, centering on service levels, response times, costs and equity among all county residents. Council Member Bowen asked Mr. Davidson if the County had ever been approached about separating services such as Maricopa. 'County has allowed with cities and towns in their county. Mr. Davidson concluded by saying that he had had numerous conversations with County over the years about different models and concepts. Most recently, he had reached out to the Chief Deputy County Administrator about exploring different partnership opportunities so that the town could provide enhanced services. He also talked about the equity issue regarding services between strictly unincorporated county residents versus county residents within incorporated cities and. towns. The response from the county was that there was no difference in services and they were not going to tailor intergovernmental agreements to specific needs of jurisdictions. At that point, there was no way to move the conversation forward. Council Member Bowen asked if there were other jurisdictions currently considering what the Council is talking about tonight. Mrd Davidson said he couldn't speak directly to what other jurisdictions might be considering, but he was aware of similar conversations and concerns expressed over the years that were being presented tonight. Council Member Kar made a motion on behalf of Option 1, continuing negotiating with Pima County on a new IGA for animal control services for FT'2018, seconded by Council M c-umber Ziegler. Mayor Honea asked Ms. Bronson to poll the Council. The motion failed on a vote of 5.2, with Council Members Bowen, Comerford, McGorrany, and Mayor H-onea and Vice Mayor.Fast voting nay. A second motion supporting Option 2 for the town to,provide animal control services and easter mato sepparrate agreements without outside organizations for sheltering, veterinarian and other support services beginning July 1, 2017 was made by Council Member Bowen, second by Vice Mayor Post,,gassed 5-2, with council Members Kai and Ziegler voting nay, Council Member Ziegler said that she would like to see the line items for each of the new costs for services when they are prepared. EXECUTIVE SESSIONS Pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03, the Town Council may vote to go into executive session, which will not be open to the public, to discuss certain matters. El Executive Session pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03 ( Council may ask for discussion or consultation for legal advice with the Town Attorney concerning any matter listed on this agenda. FUTURE AGENDA I'T'EMS Notwithstanding the mayor's discretion regarding the items to be placed on the agenda, if three or more Council members request that an item be placed on the agenda, it must be placed on the agenda for the second regular Town Council meeting after the date of the request, pursuant to Marana Town Code Section 2.4w-2(B). March 14,2017 Study Session Minutes 4 Motion a � n by 8.-35 e CERTIFICATIONCouncil Mewitier Kai, Passed unani/nously. herebycertify -foregomg are the true andcorrect n f the study session/presentation the Marana Town Council meeting2017. 1 further certify that a quorumas present. Ad elyn C. onsonjown Clerk ESTABLISHEDMARANA AZ March 14,2017 Study Session Minutes