By MORGAN AHART

Staff Writer

Members of the city’s health board addressed council Tuesday with concerns with proposed updates to the animal ordinance.

Among several other changes proposed updates to the ordinance would implement a permitting process to keep any animals “not universally recognized as a pet or companion animal,” which by ordinance would be administrated by the health department. However, the health board has raised concerns that it lacks the necessary staffing to properly implement such a program and that existing personnel would not have time to fulfill the duties of the program at its proposed scale. The board has also cited concerns with the specificity of the ordinance language and lack of clarity on enforcement responsibility and procedure.

Health Board President Pro-Tempore Judy Sicilia told council that she served on the board of health prior to the merger of the city health department with the county’s in the 90s, and that when the decision was made to bring the department back, she had been asked to take on the unprecedented task.

“Most of you that know me and the history of our health department know that we strive very, very hard to support the city of Salem and achieve our mission to promote and improve health, safety, wellness and quality of life in the city of Salem.

“Some of you may be too young to remember that when the city had a health department before it was merged with the county I served on that board for many years,” said Sicilia. “In 1994 our department was merged with the county, which did not prove to be a very satisfactory situation so in 2009 I was requested to bring the health department back to Salem. I did the work which was, unique. I would call places at the state, and they would say that nobody has ever done this before, they merge, and they don’t come back but we successfully came back, and I think it’s important to know what an achievement that is for our city.”

Sicilia urged the council to consider the full-scale of services the department already provides city residents, and the major achievements the department’s staff have achieved since the department’s revival.

“Our staff work very hard to address not only the things that are required of us by law, but our long reach planning, our short-term goals, our accreditation goals, and the day-to-day tasks, and emergencies as they come up,” said Sicilia. “One of the most important things we’ve accomplished is accreditation. You may not realize just what a major task that was. Very few small departments like ours achieve accreditation so it is really a feather in our cap.”

Sicilia said that board of health “has been apprised of” the animal ordinance “for some time” echoing previously stated concerns that its implementation would overburden the department’s “already-busy staff” and what revenue stream was expected to support the costs. Sicilia also said that the board also had concerns about how non-compliance with the ordinance would be determined and “really serious concerns about enforcement.”

Sicilia said the health board felt some issues had been clarified since Councilwoman Sara Baer attended their last meeting to discuss the ordinance but that the board still had concerns. She also said that while she was appreciative that the latest revisions to the ordinance language removed several sections assigning responsibilities to the health department that she was did “not believe that [they] had been replaced with a credible alternative.”

She ultimately requested that when the ordinance was further discussed that city council could sit down with the health board to discuss and resolve sections which could be problematic.

“I just feel that as it stands it may impart a very large burden on our department and others, and we don’t need and unfunded mandate,” said Sicilia.

Health Board Member Cami Cope was also in attendance, and while initially set to address council as well said that Sicilia had covered her concerns as well.

While the latest revisions of the animal ordinance were originally slated to be brought before council for a reading Councilman Jeff Stockman, who chairs the rules and ordinances committee decided it should remain tabled for further discussion.

City Council will meet next at 7 p.m. Thursday. The May 7 meeting is cancelled due to election week.