City Council

Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes November 9 2011 Page 1 City of Taylorsville Work Session Minutes Wednesday November 9 2011 Council Chambers 2600 West Taylorsville Blvd Room No 140 Taylorsville Utah 84129 Attendance Mayor Russ Wall Council Members City Staff Chairman Jerry Rechtenbach John Inch Morgan City Administrator Vice Larry Jahnsan Chairman John Brerns City Attorney Council Member Dama Barbour Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder Council Member Bud Catlin Jessica Springer Council Coordinator Council Member Morris Pratt Del Craig Chief of Police Mark McGrath Community Development Director John Taylor City Engineer Scott Harrington Chief of Finance Donald Adams Economic Development Director Tessa Kohl Victim Advocate Others Kristie Overson Israel Grossman Julene Inskeep Charles Christopher RoxAnn Jeppesen Hank Greenwood Jessica Almeida Caitlin Lisle Dave Ballou Geneva Facemyer Ernest Burgess Chairman Jerry Rechtenbach called the Work Session to order at 0 6 0r p n and welcomed those in attendance City Recorder Cheryl Peacock Cattle conducted a Roll Call wherein all Council Members were present Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes November 9 2011 Page 2 1 Quarterly Report West Valley Animal Control Kelly Davis 32 Kelly Davis of West Valley Animal Control Services reported on animal control 30 18 activities in Taylorsville Mr Davis reviewed a table outlining current activities versus past activities and discussed trends that have emerged 41 Council Member Catlin asked if park refers to just the Dog Park Mr Davis 32 18 confirmed that this is just in reference to the Dog Park 49 Council Member Catlin followed up with a question regarding the response time for 33 18 vicious dog attacks Mr Davis responded that the response time is anywhere from 16 minutes to hour He one explained that calls before 0 8 0 m aare routed to Valley Emergency Communications Center VECC and then Animal Control is paged during business hours calls go directly to the Animal Shelter He noted that if there is an progress in bite or dog fight the calls are responded to more quickly than with a normal progress inanimal control call not 49 Council Member Johnson asked whether West Valley City calls are responded to more 36 18 quickly than a1 ylorsville calls because West Valley is a larger city Mr Davis responded that both cities are considered to be of the same importance He relayed that Taylorsville has two dedicated officers based on size however call response is also based on circumstances and officers are pulled from other areas if needed 39Member Pratt asked about dispatch coverage and whether there are times when 18 03Council the phones are not manned during business hours Council Member Pratt referenced a specific incident when a resident was unable to reach a live person during business hours Mr Davis explained that there is an automated operator system that answers initially and then the caller is given several options and can press 0 to get to an operator who will address a particular issue He noted that there are times when the phones are very busy and the call is routed to a voicemail 12 Council Member Barbour questioned whether a resident can call 91 4 1 for response if there is an progress in occurrence Mr Davis responded that a resident can always ca11911 for inissues and an animal control officer will be dispatched progress 52 Mr Davis reviewed administrative procedures in dealing with two city jurisdictions 43 18 30 Mr Davis referenced the three Pit Bull incidents that have occurred 44 18 recently in Taylorsville and detailed enforcement events leading up to these incidents Mr Davis clarified that there is not necessarily concern over a specific breed but rather over certain behavior He relayed his understanding that concerns have been specifically expressed over Pit Bulls but said that the issues are really related to behavior in general Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes November 9 2011 Page 3 05 Chairman Rechtenbach cited the difference between an aggressive small dog and an 47 18 aggressive larger dog and questioned whether these two sizes of aggressive dogs should be treated similarly Mr Davis responded that there are levels of response based on the severity of the injury or attack Chait7nan Rechtenbach follawed up by asking whether Taylorsville s current ordinance covers response methods after an incident Mr Davis confirmed that the s ordinance does cover handling an incident after the fact City 03 Council Member Pratt asked whether West Valley Animal Control keeps track of the 50 18 breed of dogs involved in an attack and whether there are an abundance of pit Bulls or German Shepherds etc Mr Davis relayed that tracking of attacks has shown that Pit Bulls are the highest followed by Labs then German Shepherds and then Chihuahuas 24 Council Member Johnson observed that every 51 18 dog can be mean if not maintained by its owner 33 Council Member Johnson asked about a specific call 54 18 regarding a Pit Bull that was contained once the officer arrived and whether a citation was issued anyway Mr Davis answered that dog owners can be cited whether they are contained when Animal Control arrives or not based on the original complaint and the circumstances involved 2 Discussion Regarding K9 Breed Specific Restriction Layne Morris West Valley City Community Preservation Director 33West Valley City Cornrnunity Preservation Director Layne Morris presented 55 18 information on breed specific bans and explained that this has been an issue for residents and officials in West Valley City as well Mr Morris cited the topic of Pit Bulls and whether they need to be addressed as a specific breed or not Mr Morris illustrated a Power Point Presentation regarding the history of bull baiting selective breeding the history of bans regarding baiting cruelty to animals and breed specific bans He reviewed a timeline of dog baiting ratting and dog fighting progression Mr Morris expressed his belief that there is definitely a predisposition factor for aggression with Pit Bulls He said that due to 1000 years of specific Pit Bulls these tendencies can be inherent in Pit Bulls Mr Morris breeding fighting went over three studies that have been done regarding violent attacks involving dogs e i a CDC Study Animal People News Study and Dogsbite org Study Mr Morris noted that to be fair some sites do not like Pit Bulls so tend they to be more negative toward Pit Bulls Mr Morris also stated that there are different definitions and specifications for identifying a Pit Bull and this can skew statistics Chairman Rechtenbach clarified that there are issues with definition and for any breed not specifications just Pit Bulls Mr Morris relayed that in court cases experts in the field are often brought in to determine whether a dog is actually a Pit Bull rather than paying for a DNA test to determine breed Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes November 9 201 1 Page 4 28 Mr Morris went on to reference Taylorsville specific dog bite statistics with a 10 19 percentage of 32 licensed dogs in Taylorsville He noted that based on these numbers Pit Bulls are not the largest breed reporting dog bites in the City He cited statistics for behavior and impound rates in West Valley and Taylorsville 52 Mr Morris explained that the numbers are based on the number of dog licenses sold 14 19 the number of actual dog bites impounds and complaints He noted that the number of dogs listed in a specific breed as being located in Taylorsville is not an accurate number because many dogs are not licensed as they should be 01 9 1 8 Discussion ensued regarding specific numbers and calculations that were used to determine specific percentages referenced in the presentation 51 Council Member Barbour and Council Member Johnson both stated that they believe it 19 would be helpful to have Taylorsville specific information regarding licensing impounds and complaints relating to Pit Bulls 44 Mayor Wall clarified that Administration invited Mr Morris to talk about the 20 19 philosophical approach regarding breed specific bans and not to provide information on Taylorsville specific issues 51 Mr Morris stated that based on research and data compiled it is 21 19 generally considered that Fit Bulls and Chihuahuas have the most irresponsible owners over any other breeds 55 Council Member Johnson asked for clarification on the number of dogs in Taylorsville 22 19 versus the licensed dogs in the City Mayor Wall responded that based on census information there are approximately 000 dogs in the City but only approximately 2800 dogs are actually 13 licensed 50 Council Member Catlin observed that it is irrelevant to 23 19 analyze revenue or other data based on licensing statistics because of the different licensing requirements e i senior citizens who are not required to pay fees etc 25Mr Morris continued his presentation with current environment statistics and what 19 Ob other jurisdictions are doing world wide and locally Included in the presentation were statistics on Pit Bull attacks or other breed attacks versus death by other means not involving dogs or specifically Pit Bulls Mr Morris then detailed options that are available and have been used elsewhere 37 Council Member Barbour thanked Mr Morris for the information 29 19 provided and stated her belief that the issue is more about irresponsible dog owners than with the dogs themselves Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes November 9 201 1 Page 5 43 33 19 City Administrator John lnch Morgan suggested that because of the amount of data and comments presented this information should be given to the Ordinance Review Committee He recommended that the committee be asked to examine data and make recommendations as to how Taylorsville should handle these situations going forward and whether current regulations are strong enough to handle future issues that may arise 59 Several Council Members rendered opinions regarding Pit Bulls and breed 33 19 specific bans based on personal experience and other statistics 3 Discussion Regarding Police Department Staffing Chief Del Craig 35 Taylorsville Police Chief Del Craig addressed the Council regarding questions that 02 18 were brought up in a previous Council Meeting addressing traffic citations scheduling and staffing issues Chief Craig went over numbers regarding traffic citations in the City He relayed that staffing has remained consistent four officers are assigned to patrol two exclusively to traffic full time with the other two assigned to traffic and patrol The Chief stated that more detail will be presented during the Strategic Planning Process as to the direction of the Police Department and what is being looked at far the future 8 Council Member Larry Johnson asked about the recent new officer allocations and 56 0 whether they will assist with traffic Chief Craig confirmed that they will be helping out with traffic as well as other areas 49 Council Member Catlin asked about whether two officers are 08 18 enough for traffic and whether that number should be increased Chief Craig answered that as ofnow two officers have been adequate because of the staggered schedules He explained that officers work four 10 hour days which provides an overlap of schedules 21 There were no further questions for Chief Craig 16 18 4 Discussion Regarding the Strategic Planning Process Mark McGrath 56 16 18 Community Development Director Mark McGrath reviewed the upcoming schedule City Strategic Planning Process via a Power Point Presentation The presentation for the s included information on the philosophy behind a strategic planning process 10 initiatives that Taylorsville specifically looks at prioritization of categories and projects budget timelines and the City Council Retreat 19 Council Member Johnson asked about last s 23 18 year planning process and related projects and whether the things that were tabled from last year will now be reconsidered in case priorities have changed Mr McGrath confirmed that everything will absolutely be brought forward and Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes November 9 2011 all areas will be reconsidered in light of changed circumstances as new priority goals are established It was determined that the City Council Retreat will be held on November 19 2011 and will include an introduction staff presentations from the six department heads Council discussions and wrap up Discussion Regarding Chapters 26 29 30 of the Proposed Land Development Code Mark McGrath 19 43 01 Council Member Johnson opened up the discussion by asking for clarification regarding fencing in a chapter that was discussed last week Council Member Johnson determined that he will m e ail Mr McGrath his specific question for discussion offline 54 Chairman Rechtenbach apologized for not being prepared far this agenda item and 44 19 asked about postponing this discussion until a future Council Meeting because he wasn t able to review the chapters sui Council Member Barbour agreed and apologized for the lack of ciently Discussion was held regarding signs for bus benches Clarification was given by City Administrator John Inch Morgan on revenue that comes in from bus kiosks He explained that no revenue is currently received from bus benches 32 Council Member Larry Johnson MOVED to table discussion on Chapters 26 29 and 46 19 30 of the Development Code until the next Council Meeting Council Member Bud Catlin SECONDED the motion All Council Members voted in favor and it was agreed to table this item for the next Council Meeting 05 Chairman Rechtenbach recommended that only two City Council Meetings be held in 47 19 December due to the Christmas holidays It was determined that regular Council Meetings will be held on December 7i and December 14t anal the Work Session for December will be The City Recorder agreed to notice the meeting schedule change accordingly 14 Council Member Johnson asked about events scheduled for the lawn in front of City 48 19 Hall and whether the area is open for other groups to reserve John Inch Morgan relayed that Administration will bring this matter back to the Council for discussion at the November 16 2011 City Counci Meeting Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes November 9 2011 Page 7 6 Adjournment Council Member Fratt MOVED to adjourn the City Council Work Session Council Member Johnson SECONDED the motion Chairman Rechtenbach called for discussion There being none he called for a vote The vote was as follows yes Fratt Johnson yes Catlin yes yes and yes Barbour Rechtenbach All City Council members voted in favor and the motion passed unanimously The meeting was adjourned at 5 7 0m p Cheryl Pea ock Cottle City Recorder Minutes approved CC 12 11 07 Minutes Prepared hy Jessica Springer Deputy Recorder Chery Peacock Cattle City Recorder