Minutes - Council Work Session - 12/14/2021

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Administrative Services Director Lasher summarized the discussion regarding Union Contract negotiations with LELS-Patrol stating that the City Council has agreed to the terms of the tentative agreement. The Patrol Unit Contract, which will be a three-year contract, will be presented for City Council approval on January 11, 2022. 2.02: Discuss Ordinance #21-11 Amending Chapter 10 of City Code: Animals Deputy City Administrator/Community Development Director Hagen reviewed the staff report and recommendation to amend Chapter 10 of the City Code. Mayor Kuzma asked if the Council had any questions. Councilmember Musgrove provided a recap for the Council. She stated that the goals were to make the animal ordinance user-friendly, code enforcement- friendly, and more concise. Changes that were made included a beekeeping rezoning permit, bringing horses in this chapter instead of being a separate chapter, and reducing some verbiage that was redundant. She noted guidance was given to Planning Technician McCann and Deputy City Administrator/Community Development Director Hagen to make the document easier to read and understand. She stated one question that came up was whether the Council wanted to remove the inclusion of cats based on the Chief’s comments. Police Chief Katers commented that the current contract with the vendor for animal impoundment does not include cats. Historically, the only time cats have been taken, in is if they bite someone, which is a requirement. His concern was about potential stray cats and people collecting cats or bringing them to the pound. Some costs could be incurred although he wasn’t sure what that cost would be. He noted the budgetary line item with the current vendor has been dropped from 4,000 to 2,000 based on the number of dogs. The vendor is pretty good at adopting out the dogs rather than euthanizing them as had been done in the past. That is a consideration as well. He explained cats had not been included previously in the history of the ordinance and it would require a contract re-write with the vendor that they also accept cats, which they do, just not from Ramsey. Mayor Kuzma asked the Council if there was an interest to add cats. Councilmember Musgrove replied that she was okay with it since it sounds like it is a very rare occurrence. She stated when she was reviewing the case, there was no State statute on “at large” cats for licensing for cats. From her understanding, whatever the Council includes is what goes for the City, there is nothing for cats from a State level. Mayor Kuzma asked if there was enough to proceed. Councilmember Musgrove asked if anyone else had feedback. Mayor Kuzma stated if there was no more feedback, cats could be left out. City Council Work Session / December 14, 2021 Page 2 of 10