Submitted by Eric Bartelt
June 4, 2015 7:32 p.m.
On last Tuesday’s City Commission meeting agenda was more information about the opening of the Alachua Street rail crossing and an ordinance proposed by Commission Miller to prohibit the sale of dogs and cats bred by puppy and kitty mills, establishments that breed cats and dogs in poor conditions for sale through pet stores.
Alachua Street Crossing
City Attorney Tammi Bach reported that the City had reached an agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) that stipulates that the parties involved in the opening of the Alachua Street crossing are the City, FDOT and First Coast Railroad. First Coast Railroad leases the rail tracks from CSX, which owns the railbed property. CSX has deferred to First Coast Railroad and won’t be a party to the agreement. Nor will it be involved in the opening of the crossing.
Commission Gass asked about the requirement that to open a new crossing requires that an existing crossing be closed. Attorney Bach said that was a CSX requirement, not a First Coast Railroad policy or an FDOT rule, and would therefore not be in force. Gass also thought the City should get written acknowledgement from CSX that they are not a party to the agreement.
The Commission voted on the Resolution approving the Stipulation of Parties to the agreement with FDOT. The vote was 4-1 with Commissioner Gass opposed.
It was agreed the next step was to send notice to First Coast Railroad of the approved Resolution, which Attorney Bach said she would do. Mayor Boner inquired about timing and Mr. Gerrity said First Coast already has the plans for the crossing and they will do the construction. The Mayor then said the Commission will need to address the question of funding.
Pet Sales
Commissioner Miller proposed establishing an ordinance prohibiting puppy and kitty mill establishments within the City. According to Miller, reputable animal breeders will not sell directly to pet stores or brokers, only to end users. What happens, he said, “…is that usually, in isolated areas away from major cities, these companies will open up and breed several breed of dogs in small confined containers in very bad conditions, and breed them as fast a possible, basically mass producing certain breeds of dogs.” Brokers then attempt to sell the dogs to pet stores or online. He added, “When you buy a dog from a pet store in the United States, you are buying a dog that probably come from a puppy mill.” He explained that now major pet stores sell dogs and cats that come from local animal shelters, on adoption days, not from puppy mills or brokers.
Commissioner Miller said the ordinance would not prohibit people, so called hobby breeders, or individuals from breeding dogs in their own homes. The ordinance is intended to prohibit stores from selling dogs acquired from puppy mills, because often such dogs are unhealthy and have problems requiring extensive veterinary care. Miller said Fernandina would be the first community in northeast Florida to adopt such an ordinance, and that Jacksonville Beach was watching to see what Fernandina did on this issue.
Affirming what Commissioner Miller said was Tom Christianson, Executive Director of the Nassau Humane Society and Fernandina Beach Animal Rescue, which has an agreement with the City for animal control. He said they completely agree with what Commissioner Miller said and further suggested the ordinance clarify that non-profit organizations (such as animal rescue organizations or public animal shelters) and governmental entities be the only allowed sources of animals for sale through pet stores.
While she supported the ordinance, Commissioner Lentz took Commissioner Miller to task for bringing the idea for the ordinance directly to Attorney Bach, before bringing it up as a discussion item at a Commission meeting. She was concerned that if a proposed ordinance didn’t have a consensus, Attorney Bach’s time could be wasted putting together an ordinance that might not go forward. She thought it would be better to seek consensus before pursuing it with the City Attorney. Commissioner Miller responded by saying he thought that was a good point, one he hadn’t considered, and that it should be done that way in the future. The Commission then voted on this first reading of the ordinance and it passed 5-0.
Editor’s Note: Eric Bartelt retired as a corporate design consultant and moved to Fernandina Beach in 2004. His previously lived in Wisconsin. Since Eric’s arrival in Fernandina Beach, he spends his time volunteering, and playing soccer. We thank Eric for his contributions to the Fernandina Observer.
Still wondering where we stand on the issue of the quiet zone/wayside horns.
To start with the quiet zone issue is all but dead. It is expensive and costly to maintain. The wayside horn system seems to be the only possible solution. I say “possible” as the only way to find out if this system fits our needs is to have one of the only two companies who install them come into town and do a demonstration. They will come in and due it basically for the price of a plane ticket from Texas, a room for the night and a free meal. This is not an expensive outlay of money, likely under $1,000. This seems like a very small price to see if the system works or if it also is too loud to meet our needs. If it works we can pursue it, if it doesn’t we can move on without further discussion. Seems simple enough, but it’s not getting done.
As far as Alachau Street is concerned, my question has been, and still is, while we are in the planning stage with respect to the new signal crossings will the wiring be what is known as “constant warning circuitry “? This is the type of wiring needed should we put in the way side horn system. I wouldn’t want to see us budget for this whole project than at some point come to the conclusion we want to install the wayside horns and have to go back and retro fit the signal wiring. The funny part is all this could be settled if we just brought in one company for a demo before we move too far along with the planning and funding. I have no idea if the wayside horns will work or not, they may still be too loud and just not worth the effort and money to install them. There is one sure fire way to find this out—do a demo.
Sounds logical to me also, a simple test should make it easier to decide for the City and the Commissioners before spending a bunch of money. It would seem that safety of our citizens is the key thought also.