FLOWER MOUND ANIMAL SERVICES BOARD MEETING OF MAY 28, 2013. THE FLOWER MOUND ANIMAL SERVICES BOARD MEETING HELD ON THE 28 th OF MAY 2013 IN THE FLOWER MOUND TOWN HALL, LOCATED AT 2121 CROSS TIMBERS ROAD IN THE TOWN OF FLOWER MOUND, COUNTY OF DENTON, TEXAS AT 6:30 P.M. The Animal Services Board met in a regular session with the following members present: Mary O Meara Chair, Place 1 Christine Hastings Member, Place 2 John Harvey Vice-chair, Place 3 Cynthia Patterson Member, Place 4 Joyce Reppert Member, Place 6 Bobbi Lambrecht Member, Place 7 The following members were absent: Vacant Place 5 Joeseph McGraw Member, Place 8 Henry Meeks Member, Place 9 Place 8 and Place 9 of the Animal Services Board do not vote on items unless they sit in place of one of the regular members, place one through seven. Constituting a quorum with the following member of the Town staff present: Trae Malone Animal Services Officer, Board Secretary A. CALL TO ORDER Chair Mary O Meara called the Animal Services Board meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. B. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION C. CHAIR/ BOARD MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENT
D. REGULAR ITEMS 1. Consider approval of the minutes from a regular meeting of the Animal Services Board held on February 26, 2013. A motion was made by Member Patterson and seconded by Member Harvey to accept the minutes as written. Ayes : Harvey, Hastings, Reppert, Lambrecht, Patterson Nays : 0 2. Staff Report Member Hastings made a quarterly report which included January through April so the members can see the breakdown of it. Member Hastings requested feedback from the members to find out if this format is what they are looking for. All the numbers were totaled so the members could see 4 months at a time. Member Hastings explained that she used to include the previous year s numbers to compare them against and asked the members to let her know if they would like her to go back to doing it that way. Chair O Meara stated she did like it as a quarterly report and thought it was a good way to put all of the information together. Member O Meara anticipates this time next year being able to compare quarter to quarter the board might be able to get a little more perspective. Member Hastings asked if the board still wanted the month by month breakdown and if so should it include last year s numbers? Member Lambrecht explained that she does not care about last year s numbers because there are too many variables that could fluctuate the numbers but month by month for the current year is very helpful. Member Hastings stated that she will keep the format she did for this quarter the same for what she will do next time. Member Patterson stated that on the Quarterly report for loose dogs there were 701 in the quarter. It was asked if that typically what it is, dogs getting out from their enclosed areas and Animal Services getting called or coming across the dogs on the street being loose. Member Hastings answered that yes, that is just calls for loose dogs, although by the time we get out there we don t always see them. However, that number also includes dogs that are contained by a citizen that have called us to pick them up. Member Patterson asked if the revenue generated is off of citations and if that meant each citation averages about $200.00 each. Member Hastings explained that citations are paid over at Courts. The revenue fee is from impound, quarantine and boarding fees. 3. Humane Society of Flower Mound Update Chair O Meara shared that the Humane Society of Flower Mound took in 18 dogs from Oklahoma City. Those were dogs that were already available for adoption for their Love on Wheels program which freed up space in Oklahoma City so they could house more of the lost and found animals or animals who needed a place to stay. Chair O Meara explained that they had received some questions about if these dogs were displaced animals and she explained that they were not. The dogs were already up for adoption before the storm hit and they will be going to New York in a couple of weeks as part of the Love on Wheels program. This program has been really successful so far and the Humane Society of Flower Mound has had good results
from that. Chair O Meara next explained that the Tuxes and Tails fundraiser will be November 14, at Tour 18 and FidoFest celebration will be on November 2 at Westchester Park. Chair O Meara lastly stated for anyone who is interested in volunteering with them The Humane Society of Flower Mound s next orientation is June 22 nd and to check their website for more information. 4. Update on Dog park sub-committee: discuss recommendations for dog park rules Member Hastings explained that Trae Malone, Animal Services Supervisor and Animal Services Board secretary is going to explain where the Dog Park originally was going to be but now there is a new proposed site. After the presentation the Park s department wanted the Animal Services Board to come up with some suggestions for rules for the dog park. Trae explained that the original location for the dog park was going to be on Garden Ridge and FM 3040 on the southeast side. The current proposed side for the park is now going to be just east of the CAC and north of Fort Flower Mound. Trae went out to the site to look around and showed the Board some pictures of what the location looks like now. Trae described what was in the pictures to show where the park is planned for. Member Hastings explained that this area was preferred over the previous location because it is already cleared out and amenities are already on location lowering the cost of the park s development. Chair O Meara commented the land is flat but asked if the trees being shown would be inside of the park or along the outside. Trae showed the trees that would stay in the park. He also went over the large boulders would be kept where they are to provide seating for the park as well. Chair O Meara asked about the location of the parking and asked if there was room for more toward the left of the picture or if it was private residence there. It was concluded that it was storage and part of the CAC s property. Member Lambrecht asked when Trae was showing the picture of the location as it is now, where there are trees and decorative boulders are there plans to keep the boulders there or are there plans to take them out. Member Hastings stated that she believes the plan is to keep what is there and take out as little as possible as the trees provide good shade and the boulders provide good seating. Member Patterson asked if a specific area she was showing on the map was a natural buffer zone between the park and the residential area. Trae Malone explained that it is pretty heavily treed in that area but there is not a large distance between the sidewalk and the houses behind the park. Chair O Meara asked if there were any more meeting dates for the Dog Park Subcommittee that came up due to the fact that the new proposed location might change
some of the recommendations that were already made. Member Hastings did not have any exact dates but was aware that the Town Council wants this completed pretty quickly and hope that this time next year it will be completed. Member Hastings believed the hope was to have the final plans made by October or November. Chair O Meara next asked member Hastings to go over the rules. Member Hastings explained that when she was looking over the rules at other parks they seem more like suggestions rather than hard core rules. Member Hastings asked the Board as they were looking over them, if there were any they feel strongly about. One question that came up that she mentioned to Member Harvey was the questions about vaccinations. There was talk about requiring more than just the Rabies vaccine although enforcement may be difficult. Member Hastings asked Member Harvey if he had any ideas of what should be done if not must be done before going to a dog park. Member Harvey explained that Rabies is the only vaccine required by law. Core vaccines currently are the Rabies, Distemper and Bordatella. The Leptospirosis vaccine although is not core currently it is on the cusp of becoming a core vaccine. Lepto is also a disease that can be transferred to people. One of the vaccines that he does not make mandatory is Lyme disease however it may be one to consider recommending it as it is transferred by ticks that could be found at a park. Member Harvey talked about the rules and did like the rules at the Wiggly Park in Denton where it separates the rules so between the animals, animal owners and children as opposed to one long list. He also would like to have the rules include vaccinating of the animals and that the owners are responsible for any damage their animal causes. Member Lambrecht asked if Member Hastings was asking for rules that the Board would really like to go forward with. Member Hastings replied that she s looking for any recommendations that the Board would like to see at the park. Member Lambrecht stated that the two that she s seen and has personally experienced is to not allow dogs in heat at the park and age restrictions on children that are allowed in the park. Member Lambrecht has seen various ages listed at different parks but there should definitely be a limit on how young the children are that are allowed. Member Harvey stated along those same lines, he would also like to see a limit on the number of dogs as well and feels a two dog limit is reasonable. Chair O Meara stated that the issue of the number of dogs allowed per owner was a concern for the Dog Park Sub-committee members as well. Member Patterson mentioned that she agrees with member Hastings comment about the signs being too busy as it s typical if things get too wordy, people do not pay attention. Also, one of the comments that was made about the vaccinations, whatever the Board recommends above and beyond Rabies she wanted to point out the Euless dog park under its rules states that by bringing a dog into the dog park the owner certifies that their dog has been properly inoculated and is free of contagious diseases, parasites etc. Maybe an idea would be to list the different available vaccinations and what s mandatory and what are recommended to help educate people about what the vaccinations so those that those
that are not familiar with some of them might talk with their veterinarian about it. Member Hastings stated that she feels that is a good idea because some of the diseases are more common than people would like to think and will call Animal Services to ask what vaccines they should get their dogs. Seeing the list at the dog park will get people to question what they are. Chair O Meara stated that she thinks one of the challenges for the rules is what is nice to have vs. what is required because of the enforceability of it. Member Harvey was not sure how the funding would work but suggested we make this an educational opportunity as well. Having a placard showing this is Rabies, this is distemper, that way the people who are out there with their dog can actually learn about the disease and think that maybe they do need that vaccine. Chair O Meara brought up that they might be able to get a grant from somewhere because if that is not part of the Town s budget you would anticipate that there would be some grants from HSUS, a Veterinarian Association, or from the vendors that make the vaccines. Member Patterson stated, that she can tell us as one being employed by a pharmaceutical company there are grants that are applied for by many different organizations and although she does not know the research that would need to be done on that it may be a possibility. Member Patterson asked the Board if anyone had any recommendation as to the dog size from the small side of the park to the large side of the park. At some of the other parks that were reviewed there were some differences across the board. Member Hastings stated that she had seen 25 lbs. to 40 lbs. range in the parks reviewed. It also appears that small dogs are allowed in the large dog area but to do so at your own risk although she has never seen where large dogs were permitted in the small dog area. Member Reppert stated that part of the problem is that you have some owners that have a large and a small dog but then they are used to being around big dogs. Member Hastings explained that one concern she has that she hadn t seen mentioned is that she does not think a dog should be allowed to be on a leash in a dog park as it can be a hazard to the dog and a good way to have a bite occur. A concern the PALS board had brought up was the distance between the parking and the dog park. One reason is because they feel if the distance is too great, there will be a larger amount of feces on the ground between the park and the parking lot and a greater chance of animals running loose as many people will just open the car to let the dogs out loose and walk over to the park. Member Lambrecht stated that she had seen some rules here that specifically state that the dog must be on a leash until they enter and close the gate to the park. Regarding the feces issue to and from the park, Member Lambrecht asked if there were going to be
signs. Chair O Meara replied that the plan is to have waste stations inside the park so there will probably be receptacles between the park and parking lot. One of the biggest problems too is the location of the dog park and the location of Animal Services. If a complaint comes in, even if it s after hours by the time Animal Services is able to get there, the people could be long gone. Member Hastings stated that one difficulty is going to be when Animal Services witnesses a violation a citation can be issued, but if Animal Services does not witness the violation they cannot issue a citation. However, hopefully the peer pressure of those attending the park will help to keep it clean. Member Lambrecht stated that she does see one rule that is repeated over and over is that puppies under 4 months of age are not allowed. Member Lambrecht asked Vice-Chair Harvey if he could elaborate on the reasoning behind that rule. Vice-Chair Harvey explained that the initial vaccine series are done from four to sixteen weeks. By sixteen weeks, the maternal antibodies have disappeared and the final set of vaccines will have fully taken effect. Up until that point you just don t know. Vice-Chair Harvey stated that one other rule he hasn t seen brought up here is to not allowing people to walk barefoot. Member Hastings stated that one thing that was discussed in the subcommittee was the use of proxy cards requiring people to register to use the dog park and also use it as a way to check proof of vaccines on the animals before allowing someone to use the park. Member Reppert stated that was a good idea except that you re going to run into the problem of people losing their cards, or they will get to the park and not have the card and someone else will swipe them in. It will be more trouble than it s worth. Chair O Meara also mentioned the expense as an issue with having a system like this. Member Lambrecht asked if it was anticipated that people from other areas are going to use the dog park. If the proxy card is in place, will people from Double Oak or other Towns want to go to Flower Mound to use the dog park? Chair O Meara stated that people travel from all over to meet with friends at the Lewisville dog park. Member Patterson asked if any of the other parks that were visited had this system in place. Member Hastings replied, no, they were all free to everyone. Member Patterson asked about what the next steps were and if it was known when the next committee meeting was. Member O Meara state June 17 th at 11:00 am was the next dog park sub-committee meeting. Member Hastings stated that she would let the committee know about the suggestions that were discussed as far as the rules go and the separation of the rules. Right now the priority is to get the cost down and then the rules will come in to play further down the line.
Member Patterson stated that fencing is going to be a large expenditure for this project and asked what some of the larger expenditures were going to be. Member Hastings stated that the park benches will be expensive because there needs to be cement slabs underneath. Chair O Meara added that they will also have to bring water from the restrooms for drinking stations for the dogs and a sprinkler system and the lights will also be needed because in the winter it gets dark at 4:00 in the afternoon. They are also trying to figure out what good hours are as it can get dark early and people just getting off work will not have a chance to use the park if it s open dawn till dusk. Member Reppert asked if there was any thought to having donations such as engraved bricks the public could donate. Chair O Meara stated that idea was talked about and the challenge is that there are also companies that want to sponsor parts of it as well and the process about how that will happen and what it will look like is still being figured out and the committee needed more guidance from the Town on items like this. Member O Meara added that when it comes to the fence, there needs to be cement under the fences. She stated that there are a lot of items that have been learned about wear and tear over the years. The benches need to be placed on concrete but then there needs to be something around the concrete such as crushed gravel so that dogs don t dig at the edge of the concrete which all comes at an additional cost. During the last sub-committee meeting they were ready to turn the plans over to an architect to get a better idea of the pricing issues. Member O Meara stated that after one or two more of these subcommittee meetings there would be a presentation to the PALS board that would be open to the public and then when the final recommendations were in place there would be a presentation to the Town Council.
E. COORDINATION OF CALENDARS The next meeting was tentively scheduled for August 27 th at 6:30 F. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS - Dog park update G. ADJOURNEMT The Animal Services Board meeting was adjourned at 7:09 pm. TOWN OF FLOWER MOUND, TEXAS Christine Hastings, Town Representative ATTEST: Trae Malone, Secretary