Council passes animal ordinance, job creation grant

Solon City Council passed an ordinance to rename a previously passed ordinance in an effort to highlight that residents should not only not feed deer, they also shouldn’t feed any other type of wildlife within the city of Solon. The Wildlife Feeding section of the city’s code now states that the feeding of wildlife and stray animals is prohibited in the city limits. The original ordinance, section 618.127, entitled Deer Feeding Prohibited, had made the “feeding of deer” a prohibited action. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Sign Up Log In Purchase a Subscription However, on Nov. 2, the council renamed the ordinance to more fully represent what was being prohibited, which is, the feeding of all wildlife and stray animals, according to Police Chief Courtenay Perkins. Solon Ordinance section 618.127 is now named, “Feeding of Wildlife and Stray Animals Prohibited” and advises residents to refrain from the following: • Do not place food for dogs, cats, deer, geese, ducks, raccoons, fowl or other wild animals on public property or within 150 yards of a private residence or public right-of-way. • Exceptions: animals you own and songbirds fed from a stationary bird feeder. • Do not purposely or knowingly feed wild white-tailed deer where undomesticated animals can access food, including by hand, ground-feeding stations, salt licks or other feeding mechanisms, on public or private land. According to the ordinance, “wildlife have plenty of food available in nature, feeding wild animals can create nuisances for the community.” Chief Perkins’ memo stated that the ordinance was designed for the good of the community, not as a mechanism to find offenders. “Education, cooperation and voluntary compliance are our primary objectives-not enforcement. Please partner with us to maintain a peaceful and pleasant quality of life for Solon residents,” the memo said. In other business, the city council approved a Job Creation Grant with FPC International Inc./ Fed/Pro Inc., for a 50 percent tax grant, with the stipulation that the company add 82 full-time jobs within nine years of receiving the incentive grant. FedPro Inc., which currently operates out of three facilities in Northeast Ohio, has outgrown their space. They will be building an 110,000 square foot headquarters on 21.6 acres on Franklin Park Blvd with future warehouse expansion capabilities, according to their grant application. The Job Creation Grant was approved by the city council.