Commissioners name animal control board members

With the summer target date right around the corner for reestablishing animal control in Putnam County, the county commissioners took a couple of steps closer to the goal on Monday.

The commissioners appointed 10 of 11 members of the Animal Care and Control Board Advisory Board as well as signing a partnership agreement with the Humane Society of Putnam County (HSPC).

The animal control board was established with the signing of the animal control ordinance earlier in March, but the board was not appointed until Monday. It consists of appointments from various communities, the county at large, the humane society and the Putnam County Sheriff's Department.

The 10 members include Police Chief Tom Sutherlin (Greencastle), Brittany Duncan (Cloverdale), Councilman Chuck McElwee (Bainbridge), Marshal Mike Mahoy (Roachdale), Councilman Jim Davis (Russellville), Lisa Mock (Heritage Lake), Lynn Boymer (HSPC), Sheriff Steve Fenwick (sheriff's department) and at-large members Carolyn Shotwell and Phil Gick.

Bohmer and Gick, who have been instrumental in the process of reestablishing animal control, will both be stepping down in the coming months. Sandy Grimes will take Bohmer's spot in June, while the commissioners still need to select a replacement for Gick.

Additionally, no Fillmore representative has been chosen.

The advisory board will be a resource for the as yet unnamed animal control officer. Two such officers will be hired and will be under the command of the county sheriff.

With resources coming from both the county and HSPC, the other important step on Monday was the signing of the partnership agreement.

County Attorney Jim Ensley previously advised the commissioners that the agreement will be something that will have to be developed and reevaluated as time goes by.

However, at this point the basic outline of the agreement is that the county will be in charge of the animal control element of the partnership while the humane society will be charged with the humane shelter aspect.

As such, the animal control officers will be hired by the county, while a veterinary technician will be hired by HSPC.

In other business, the commissioners received information from Joe McDonough of American Legal Publishing. Ensley approached the company seeking an estimate on codifying the county ordinances as well as planning and zoning information.

To find such information currently, one must sort through years of old meeting minutes.

"There's no real organization or rhyme or reason," Ensley said. "It's been Frankensteined together, for lack of a better term."

Ensley gave an example of researching the county's animal control laws recently. No one was completely sure of the fact, but there was already an animal control ordinance on the books, as well as the County Option Dog Tax being passed twice.

The proposed plan would put all of the relevant ordinance in a single binder, indexed and cross reference.

The work would come at a cost of $14,375, payable over two or three budget years if needed.

Future updates would come at a cost of about $20 per page, and would not necessarily be needed every year.

At this point, it's unclear how the county would fund the process, but the commissioners are interested in looking into it.

"The bottom line is, we gotta get into the 21st century," Commissioner Max Watts said.