Animal Services Advisory Committee

Regular Meeting City of Hendersonville Animal Services Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes | August 19, 2021 – 5:30 p.m. REMOTE MEETING HPD Police Assembly Room | 160 6th Ave. E. | Hendersonville NC 28792 1. Call to Order Meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Caroline Gunther, Chair. Member’s present were Caroline Gunther, Chair; Angela Prodrick, Vice Chair, Sarah Hoffman, Robin Grainger, James Lyon, Chief of Police Blair Myhand and Melissa Justus, Secretary. Jean Greeson and Joy Edwards joined the meeting after the approval of the agenda. 2. Approval of Agenda Motion was made by Angela Prodrick, Vice Chair to approve the agenda. Sarah Hoffman seconded the motion and a unanimous vote of the Committee followed. Motion carried. 3. Public Comment There were no public comments. 4. New Business Chair Caroline Gunther discussed the Charter and Rules of Procedure of the committee for new committee members. Angela Prodrick made the motion to nominate Caroline Gunther to remain as Chair. Jean Greeson seconded the motion. A unanimous vote of the committee followed. Motion carried. Sarah Hoffman made the motion to nominate Angela Prodrick to serve as Vice Chair. Jean Greeson seconded the motion. A unanimous vote of the committee followed. Motion carried. Committee member James Lyon made motion to cancel October and December 2021 meetings. Member Sarah Hoffman seconded the motion. Member James Lyon made an amendment to the motion to make the September meeting a virtual meeting. Unanimous vote of the committee followed. [1] 5. Approval of Minutes for June 17, 2021 Meeting Vice Chair Angela Prodrick made the motion to approve the minutes as amended; Jean Greeson seconded the motion and a unanimous vote of the committee followed. 6. Civil Penalty Benchmark Study and Recommendation – Chief Blair Myhand Chief Myhand presented information from 14 different municipalities in North Carolina on the issue of Civil Penalties vs. Criminal Penalties. City of Hendersonville has criminal and civil penalties for Animal Ordinance violations. Of the 14 municipalities, 10 are civil fines only, with most on a graduated scale. Four are either all criminal or combination of both criminal and civil. Two have a 3-level system. Chief would like for the Police Department to get away from sworn Animal Enforcement officers issuing people with civil violations and to also take a more civil penalty approach versus a criminal penalty. The committee would need to recommend to City Council for a civilian animal enforcement officer and January would be the best time to give that recommendation to council. Chief Myhand suggested that the committee have more discussion before making that recommendation. Recommends a progressive fee schedule with options for dismissal of fees if certain steps are followed. City ordinances would have to be amended to reflect violations and specific charges. The goal of possible changes to civil penalties is to modify behavior. Committee members want to look at the fee schedule more closely and to discuss that at a future meeting 7. New Business for the September 16, 2021 Meeting • Information on different municipalities in North Carolina that use civilian animal enforcement personnel vs. sworn animal enforcement personnel • Specifics of North Carolina statutes versus City of Hendersonville animal ordinances 8. Adjourn There being no further business Vice Chair Angela Prodrick moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:06 p.m. [2]