CONSENT AGENDA - Cathy Sorensen, City Clerk
Title
APPROVAL OF THE 2016-2017 KENNEL LICENSES
Background
The kennels listed below are renewing their kennel licenses at this time:
Blaine Kennels Elfenbein Samoyed Kennels
Thomas Carroll James & Elfie Shea
10193 Flanders Street NE 12339 Radisson Road NE
Blaine, MN 55449 Blaine, MN 55449
(Commercial License) (Home Based License)
Stone Mountain Pet Lodge Stone Mountain Pet Lodge
David A. Larson David A. Larson
9935 Radisson Road NE 10073 Baltimore Street NE
Blaine, MN 55449 Blaine, MN 55449
(Commercial License) (Commercial License)
The licensing period for kennels is May 1, 2016 to April 30, 2017 and all required renewal documents are on file with the City. The Animal Control Division of the Police Department has completed the kennel inspections for the above-listed kennels and found no concerns. In addition, no complaints have been received this past year that would prohibit renewals of any of these licenses.
Richard Olin, owner of Von der Alstor-Elbe Kennels at 12157 Radisson Road NE, has notified staff that he will not be renewing their kennel license. A letter confirming this request has been sent as non-renewal by June 1 will result in the kennel no longer being able to operate under the grandfathering provision.
Mr. Carroll and Mr. Larson have both expressed concerns regarding the kennel fee increase for their commercial licenses. While the home based kennel fee remained the same at $70/year staff had recommended a fee increase for commercial kennels of $70/year plus an additional $10/unit fee. This additional per unit fee was not intended to apply to the number of individual dog kennels but rather to a “run” or area where dogs are let out for exercise.
Below are kennel license fees for some surrounding cities for comparison:
Blaine
Home based $70/year
Commercial $70/year + $10/unit (i.e., run)
Coon Rapids
Annual permit fee $40/year + inspection/re-inspection$100/year
Fridley
Private only $25/year
Ham Lake
Private $30
Conditional Use Permit - one time issuance of $100, inspected annually, no fee charged at renewals
Lino Lakes
Private $20/year
Commercial $105/year
New Hope
$75/initial application
$50/renewal
After discussions with both license holders about their exercise areas at each of their facilities, depending on the definition their renewal fees could be increased by $50-$60/year, which is still comparable to some of our surrounding cities. But since there is not a consistent definition that each license holder uses staff is suggesting waiving that per run or unit fee for this license period and having the annual fee remain the same at $70/year. The intent of the increase was to help recoup costs incurred by police staff for the amount of time it takes to inspect a large operation versus a smaller operation, and while this is certainly not the case for any of the Blaine locations, a small operation could in fact take longer to inspect than a larger location if there were health or sanitation concerns onsite so a per unit fee may not be the best measurement to use. Staff may bring forward a proposed fee increase for the 2017-2018 license period that may better reflect costs but at this time is recommending the license fee remain at $70/year for both home based and commercial kennel licenses.
Recommendation
By motion, approve the 2016-2017 kennel license renewals as presented.