County says no deal on joint shelter BY LAUREN P. DUNCAN lduncan@paducahsun Cheers and applause followed a no vote by the McCracken County Fiscal Court Monday night on moving forward on an agreement with the McCracken County Humane Society for a joint animal shelter. Judge-Executive Van Newberry presented details of a proposed contract with the Humane Society, which included a three-year agreement at $235,000 a year. The agreement would include a euthanasia policy agreed to by the county, and the Humane Society would move forward with a capital project to double the size of its current facility. The commissioners - Zana Renfro, Jerry Beyer and Ronnie Freeman - voted down a motion to agree to move forward on a contract for more than one reason. Freeman said he did not agree with the societys stance on not permitting the county to have a voting representative on the societys board. Renfro said she wanted to see a breakdown of why the Humane Society put the annual cost at $235,000. Currently, the county and shelter pay about $160,000 a year for animal control and $240,000 for the shelter operations. The contract would mean the county would have to lay off five staff members at the shelter, one full-time employee and four part-time employees. Other details of the negotiations included allowing the county to have 24/7 access to the shelter facility and a non-voting county member on the Humane Societys board. Veterinary services would be included in the $235,000. The Humane Society also proposed expanding its facility to house about 180 dogs. The county and society shelters currently can each hold about 75 dogs. If the county does not enter an agreement, according to Newberry, the Humane Society leaders said they would still expand its facility, but only to hold about 125 dogs. A major concern over the past three years since the county broke ties with the Humane Society has been the societys euthanasia practices. Newberry said the Humane Society was open to allowing the county to influence the euthanasia policy to give dogs at least 50 days in the shelter before facing euthanasia. The commissioners voiced concern over the fact that there was no written proposal of the negotiations between county and Humane Society leaders, although Beyer pointed out that Mondays vote would not have been to approve a contract, but rather to move forward with an agreement. The failed motion to form an agreement came after several shelter volunteers voiced opinions against the merger. About 50 citizens were in attendance, many of whom voiced opposition to the Humane Society. One citizen opposed to the merger brought her dog to the meeting. Many comments centered around some citizens commitments to help raise money for the county if it was willing to move forward with constructing its own new shelter. Newberry received a round of applause after he said the county should consider if its cheaper to raise enough money to build its own shelter than agreeing to a $235,000 contract. One citizen said she received $20,000 in pledges from local business in about four or five days. The pledges were to build a new county shelter and not merge with the Humane Society. Citizens also expressed concerns regarding the Humane Societys practice of not accepting many pit bull mix dogs. Newberry said he understood from discussions with Humane Society leaders that they would take in the countys animals, pit mixes and other breeds. One citizen referred to the Humane Society as a pet shop, while others expressed concerns over the societys adoption fees, which were not detailed in the proposal. Citizen Darren Sparks spoke in support of the county building its own shelter in response to the costs presented Monday. Commissioner Beyer brought up that the Fiscal Court does have the fiscal responsibility to do the right thing. After hearing the money and the contract price and everything else, it sounds to me more like fiscal irresponsibility, Sparks said. I hear no benefits. Also, I hear no negotiations. I hear the Humane Society dictating what were going to do and what were not going to do. Freeman, who will no longer be on the Fiscal Court in January, said he thought it may be a good idea to defer the decision until the new Fiscal Court is seated in two months. In this particular case, were going back with an agency that no doubt, theyve cleaned up quite a bit, but theres also concern to me why they would not allow a voting member to come on that board. Its not really that big of an issue if you dont have anything to hide, he said. Commissioner-elect Bill Bartleman spoke as a citizen and cited the lack of a written proposal a concern. A lot of times, the devil is in the details. Before you approve it, it probably needs to be seen in writing, Bartleman said. James Shumaker, president of the McCracken County Humane Society, who watched Mondays meeting from home, said he thought the Humane Society presented the county with a good proposal that included a liberal euthanasia policy. He said he would be open to extending the euthanasia policy to as long as six months. . Maybe we should have had a big cadre of people there, he said. All the emotional speeches that they gave were certainly intimidating. I certainly wouldnt want them against me. In regard to the proposed $235,000, Shumaker said the Humane Society would be willing to look at it again. We cant do it at any price, Shumaker added. Wed like to be able to save the county money. But its still going to cost. There still is a right amount. I thought we were pretty close. I thought we gave it a good shot and, maybe its not over yet, he said. The people there at Fiscal Court, the citizens, certainly, they didnt give us a very good name. Im sorry about that. Were trying to do a good job. Although the Fiscal Court is in charge of making any decision regarding a contract with the countys animal operations and the Humane Society, the city pays about half of the countys animal control and sheltering costs through an interlocal agreement. Mayor Gayle Kaler, who was in attendance at Mondays meeting, called the lack of a decision to either form an agreement or take another direction a travesty. I was a little bit disappointed that some sort of decision was not made, she said. It wasnt very clear. That was my disappointment ... we still dont have a clear definition of what were looking at with this. Newberry said following Mondays meeting that the county will speak with the Humane Society leaders again about possibly continuing negotiations. Shumaker said he would be open to further negotiation. Id have to go back to my board to see what they want to do, he said. I certainly would be open to continuing the negotiating.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:49:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015