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Community Development Services, Department of Transportation, recommending the Board approve the Board of Supervisors Policy G-3, Dead Animal Disposal, with the original administrative modifications.
FUNDING: N/A
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On September 18, 2018, Item 15, the Department of Transportation (Transportation) recommended modification updates to titles to reflect County department name changes as well as citing County Ordinance 6.28.030 and Board of Supervisors Resolution 143-2016 for charging/recovering costs of dead animal disposal. This was done as part of Objective 2.2 of the Good Governance Goal in the Board approved Strategic Plan, where Board policies are undergoing a review/update process.
During this Board meeting, Supervisors had questions and concerns in regards to providing response to dead animals on the roadway over the weekends, the health impacts of dead animals on the roadway and recouping costs from owners of domestic animals found dead on County property. Staff from Transportation, Environmental Management and Animal Services met to discuss these questions and concerns.
In regards to responding to dead animal pick up calls over the weekend, Transportation does not have the staff nor the funds to provide this service on the weekends. Transportation has one FTE Highway Maintenance Worker dedicated to pick up and disposal of dead animals during a 40 hour work week. Staff calculated the cost of providing this service on call and found it would cost approximately $200 for a response. If there are multiple requests, the costs would go up from there, especially depending on where the calls are coming from (i.e., Georgetown, Somerset, Kyburz, El Dorado Hills). During the weekend of October 19 - 21, 2018, Transportation received 10 reports of dead animals on the roadways.
There were concerns raised as to the health impacts of dead animals on the roadway. Staff have been fully trained on the proper personal protective equipm...
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