Task Force Members:                                                 Staff:

The Honorable Bruce Dodgson, Chairman            Robert Bassani, Animal Warden, Ex-Officio

Joanne Wilson, Vice-Chair                                           Laura Christoplos, Secretary

Diane Bernier                                                                               

Jody Broughton                                                                 

Nicole Gore

Valerie Harris-Gregory                                                       

Laura Pelletier                           

Anthony Prater

The Honorable H. Edward Ricks

Helen Woods

Meeting Minutes

Thursday January 20, 2022

Virtual Meeting via Zoom

The No-Kill Community Animal Shelter Task Force Meeting was called to order at 7:11 p.m. by Chairman Bruce Dodgson. Roll was called with the following task force members present: Vice Chair Joanne Wilson, Diane Bernier, Helen Woods, Jody Broughton, Nicole Gore, Laura Pelletier, Anthony Prater, Valerie Harris Gregory.

The minutes from the December 16, 2021, meeting were discussed, and 3 amendments were requested.

On a motion by Diane Bernier, seconded by Joanne Wilson the minutes from the last meeting were approved and passed as amended.

An agenda item was added: Comments or changes to the Working Notes for the Report.

The question was put to the group whether to canvas the Task Force to come to a recommendation or give all of the possible alternatives the Task Force had generated to the Mayor and City Council and let them decide.

After discussion of the alternatives Chair Dodgson stated that he would present all of the alternatives, but hone in on the alternative of fixing the existing temporary facility to meet minimum standards for the time being. Then starting small with a Greenbelt type shelter with the possibility of expansion if there is the need and the ability to expand.

Chair Dodgson has a timeline for completion and submission of the report.

The first draft and appendix will be ready for the next meeting. He suggested that we present it to the Mayor and City Administrator for input on finalizing the report. The final draft will be done in March. The report will be presented to the Mayor and City Council at the April work session.

There was discussion of how much capacity for cats would be needed. The current facility has none. A 12 cat capacity with an outdoor “catio” was recommended so that ferals and pet cats could be accommodated.

The next item on the agenda was to identify possible sites. The Mayor had told the Task Force not to worry too much about this. The necessary characteristics were discussed, such as sanitation, health, and noise.

Agenda item 6 was to identify size or design parameters. There are certain legal requirements pertaining to ventilation, drainage, water, electrical…. Helen stated that for any building or refurbishing that is done the City needs to hire an appropriately experienced designer or architect.

Agenda item 7 was estimate of costs. No one on the Task Force is an expert so it was suggested that a list of budget items be included in the report. The operating budgets of the Greenbelt ($130,000/year) and Bowie ($239,000/year) were discussed.

The next meeting was set for February 17, 2022 at 7 PM. Between then and now more information will be sent to Bruce and he will work on refining the first draft of the report. Nicole and Joanne will assist with editing.

The meeting was adjourned at 8 PM.