County Adopts New Animal Control Ordinance By Scott Nicholson The Watauga County commissioners adopted a new animal control ordinance after a year of discussion and revisions, putting a little more bite in dealing with potentially dangerous dogs. The Watauga County commissioners adopted a new animal control ordinance that puts a little more bite in dealing with potentially dangerous dogs. The ordinance defines public nuisance and dangerous animals, and commission chairman Jim Deal said the public hearing process had provided good information and helped draft an ordinance that had a lot of input behind it. The ordinance grants enforcement powers for regulating wild and dangerous animals to the animal control department. A public nuisance is defined as an animal that damages property, attacks a person or other animal, chases or snaps at people or animals, or is otherwise a public danger. A “dangerous dog” is one that has killed or inflicted severe injury on a person, has engaged in dangerous behaviors, or has been trained for dog fighting. A “potentially dangerous dog” is one that has inflicted a serious injury to a person, killed or injured another domestic animal, or approached someone in a vicious or threatening manner when not on the owner’s property. The ordinance grants the animal control department determination authority of conditions under which a potentially dangerous dog can be released to the owner. The ordinance gives pet owners the option of installing an identifying microchip in the animal instead of using a collar or tag. Animals brought into the county must be vaccinated within one week of entering the county. Two signed and detailed complaints are required before an investigation of a nuisance animal is triggered. Owners who violate the ordinance are subject to a $50 civil penalty. The ordinance outlines provisions for the county’s storage or destruction of seized animals. The ordinance also toughens and broadens animal cruelty penalties. It’s now unlawful to leave an animal locked in a closed vehicle that threatens the animal’s life, and chained animals must have at least eight feet of chain with a swivel. Animal abandonment can lead to a misdemeanor charge. The ordinance avoids controversial language that would appear to target specific breeds some consider to be more likely to be dangerous, but does make allowance for “an inherently dangerous animal.” It’s unlawful to keep a wild animal except for in licensed sanctuaries. Pets are required to have an up-to-date rabies vaccination. Cats aren’t required to display tags, though the owner is required to have written evidence of inoculation. The commissioners had previously discussed a spay-and-neuter ordinance but decided to make that a separate discussion and will likely hold public hearings on the issue later this year. Some animal advocates said such an ordinance would reduce the number of unwanted and abandoned pets and also lower the public cost of dealing with such animals. Animal control officer Dave Simpkins said the new ordinance dealt with a number of areas in which the laws had changed since the county’s ordinance was last revised in 1994. Some of those were made to correspond with state laws and others gave his department more powers of discretion to act quickly in the interest of public safety. “Some areas had gone from black and white (in the old ordinance) to gray,” Simpkins said Wednesday. “This puts in some stiffer guidance for public nuisance and helps us make determinations in the field.” Also at the meeting, planning director Joe Furman presented a facilities-use agreement with the Committee of 100 to operate the Appalachian Enterprise Center. Under the agreement, the county will receive 30 percent of the net proceeds in the first year of operation, forty percent in the next year, and 50 percent after that. The Committee of 100 will operate the center as a mix of business incubator, entrepreneurial service, and economic development resource, with the proceeds used to further economic development and job creation. The county-owned building is located in the Human Services Center in Boone and will contain regional and local business development groups as well as Appalachian State University resources. No one spoke at a public hearing to amend the county’s ordinance regulating junkyards and automobile graveyards. The commissioners subsequently adopted proposed changes that give the county enforcement officer approval authority on types of fencing materials surrounding junkyards, as well as discretion on whether a fence is required based on slope or location of nearby properties. Deal said the changes were “practical” and designed to not create extra cost for no advantage, and the fence material should be of a suitable material that would shield the junkyard “without being overly ugly itself.” The board approved a $6,500 grant for the Blowing Rock Stage Company. The money will support a Learning Enriched Through Arts Partnership (LEAP). The program had been approved by the board of education, with the money matched by the Center for Creative Education. The program will serve 290 children in grades kindergarten through eight, with 13 teaching artists and classroom teachers. The program will begin in the next school year. Representatives of the Blowing Rock Community Arts Center Foundation asked to be included in the county’s next fiscal budget. Executive director Jeff Hayes said the real winners of the programs would be children, via the workshops offered by the Miriam & Robert Hayes Performing Arts Center. The representatives are seeking $50,000 to continue the center’s mission of providing arts programming and theater productions. Deal said if community dollars are spent on the center, then more public use should be expected, especially until the new high school stage opens. Tax administrator Kelvin Byrd presented a report on outstanding tax liens. Currently, liens total $1,573,000, which amounts to 4.8 percent of the total original tax levy. State statutes require the advertising of unpaid tax bills by publishing the list in the local newspaper of record between March 1 and June 30. The commissioners approved a $46,000 contract with McGill Associates for engineering work necessary to restore a stream bank along the South Fork of the New River. The money will come from a grant by the N.C Division of Water Resources and repair flooding damage at the county-owned Brookshire Park. The commissioners reviewed a request by County Manager Rocky Nelson to declare five of the six houses purchased as part of the new high school property. The declaration is required so the houses can be sold and either moved or demolished. Some of the homeowners are preparing other residences and the commissioners voted to take possession of the five houses on April 1. One of the homes falls under a different agreement and will likely be sold instead of demolished or relocated. An annual lease of $8,900 was renewed for three years to allow the N.C. Department of Probation and Parole to use a 673-square foot office in the East Annex of the county courthouse.