TIFTON — Despite a level of tension between the two parties, the Tifton City Council has agreed to grant the Steadfast Wildlife Rescue an extension on their deadline for relocation.

Members of the council unanimously moved to permit an extended deadline to Jessica Piscotta for the relocation of her wildlife rehabilitation facility during their March 17 meeting, granting her until the end of the month to fully transfer the animals in her care at her original location in a residential area to a space more appropriate for her facility and its services.

The City of Tifton had previously mandated Piscotta relocate back in February due to her rescue being in violation of city zoning regulations, and had asked her to fully relocate within 30 days. However, extensive support for Piscotta’s work from community members appearing at their March 3 workshop meeting prompted the city council to agree to work with the rehab facility owner on a potential extension.

Piscotta was asked to meet with city attorney Rob Wilmot and city manager Larry Lawrence to work out a plan of action for moving forward, detailing what she still needed to do, how much money she would need to raise, and how long this would take her, that she would present to the council at their most recent meeting.

During this meeting, however, Wilmot reported that he had not received any contact from Piscotta following an email he had sent her the day after the workshop meeting requesting information he deemed important to formulating this plan, such as the number of animals in her care, the number of enclosures she made use of, and the funding needed to ensure the relocation could happen without a hitch.

Furthermore, Wilmot reported that the state Department of Natural Resources had contacted him after catching wind of the dispute between Piscotta and the city, informing him that Piscotta’s claim at the workshop that the animals in her care would need to be euthanized if she was unable to relocate by the deadline was in fact incorrect. In that event, the department would intervene to release what animals could be released back into the wild, then find homes for the animals remaining.

In public comments, Piscotta claimed that she was uncomfortable with the level of information requested of her in the email sent to her by Wilmot, deeming it personal and irrelevant to forming the plan of action for the rescue. She reported that the information she had been asked to provide included full identification of each animal in her care, the names and addresses of current Steadfast members and board members, and current funds available and anticipated income and donations.

Piscotta also continued to refute that the complaints leveled against her rescue could not have led to the call for her relocation, as the only such complaints and violations she had been able to identify through public records had been made either after the letter mandating her facility’s relocation had been sent to her or in years prior.

Wilmot clarified that the information he had requested was to aid in constructing a reasonable time frame for how long a proper relocation for Steadfast would take, having approached the situation similarly to how he would converse and strategize with a corporation.

Smith supported the city attorney’s actions, asserting they were acceptable for the scenario, but criticized Piscotta’s hostile decorum throughout the meeting, especially as the city council had rearranged the agenda of their meeting to accommodate her and allow her to speak. She felt that Piscotta had only pushed back against their attempts to work with her throughout their discussions of her rescue.

Piscotta departed the meeting once she had finished with her comments, leaving the council with photos of the exterior of her home and stating that she did not need the extension as the relocation had already finished.

Councilman Michael Franks had offered a motion to grant her an extension that was left in limbo after the rescue owner’s comment, but after examining the photos, Smith suggested that they grant the extension anyway, concerned that Piscotta may still need additional time to relocate some of the animals in her care.

Under this motion, Steadfast Wildlife Rescue will have until the end of the business day of March 31 to fully relocate.