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County animal shelter debated Clarke County Commission Chairman Joe Hunt appointed commissioners Patricia DuBose and Elma Averett Tuesday to form a task force on establishing a county animal shelter. DuBose brought up the subject after she had received recent comments from county residents. There is a state law requiring counties to have a shelter and an animal control officer. Alabama Law 3-7A-7 states that "it shall be the duty of each and every county in the state to provide a suitable county pound and impounding officer for the impoundment of dogs and cats found running at large in violation of the provisions of this chapter. Every municipality with a population over 5,000 in which the county pound is not located shall maintain a suitable pound or contribute their pro rata share to the staffing and upkeep of the county pound. "When dogs and cats are impounded and if the owner thereof is known, such owner shall be given direct notice of the impoundment of said animal or animals belonging to him; or the impounding officer may make said animal or animals available for adoption after a period of not less than seven days." There had been previous talk by the commissioners concerning a pound, said County Attorney Bruce Wilson, and people have previously approached the commission with ideas. However, "it just never worked out," he said. The attorney said the county might want to establish a lease agreement with another facility besides building its own. The City of Jackson has an animal pound, located at the south end of the Gainestown Road, and an animal control officer. The City of Thomasville has a small holding kennel for nuisance animals and an animal control officer. "There are many ways you can do it," establishing a shelter, DuBose said. She wanted an answer that would be "the best thing for the people of Clarke County - and for the animals." Commissioner Rhondel Rhone was concerned how a county animal control officer could cover such a large county. DuBose said a sheriff's deputy could possibly be designated for that purpose. "It is a problem," Averett said. "It's an increasing problem. There are some dangerous dogs out there." Maurice Dyess, a sergeant with the Clarke County Sheriff's Department, said Tuesday there is not a criminal statute that covers the owners of vicious dogs. "Our hands have been tied," he said. "If we had a law we could take care of all this." "We spend almost $2 million-ayear on locking up people," Commissioner Paul Bradford said Tuesday. "I would hate to see us spending a couple of million dollars locking up animals." "It's a long process," DuBose said, "not something that will be quickly determined….All I'm asking is for the opportunity to have a hearing for the people who are extremely interested in this…and bring a report back to the commission." In other action from commission sessions this week, resident Dwight Walker addressed the issue Monday of a possible boat ramp above the old Lock One area in the Salipta community. The Commission voted Aug. 14 to partner with the U.S. Corps of Engineers to improve the park facilities at Lock One. The county will maintain a two-mile stretch of water line, which runs from the last house on the Old Lock One Road to the gates of the park. The county can lease the Lock property from the Corps for 50 years for no cost, Walker said. "All the county would have to do is keep it up," he said. The City of Demopolis has leased Old Lock Four, and Marengo County has leased Old Lock Three. "…(The Corps) is trying to get the counties and the cities to take over the old, historical places." There are only three boat landings in Clarke County, Walker said, including one at Morvin, one under the river bridge in Coffeeville and one at Gainestown. Boise Cascade also owns a landing in Jackson, he said. Walker was also concerned about the Old Lock One Road being "torn to pieces" by logging trucks. County Engineer Sam Noble will prepare an update on the issue for the commission. "Why in God's name would we take over the expense of keeping that park up when the Corps of Engineers is doing it now?" Bradford said Tuesday. "In case somebody doesn't know - the federal government has a lot more money than we've got. Yes, they are going to have to spend a couple of hours to come down here and keep the park up. I think we need to work with them and do what we can, but let's don't take the liability off of them." • E-911 Coordinator Becky Neugent received a certificate Monday in Emergency Communication Administration sponsored by the Alabama Association of 911 Districts. She recently completed a training course for 911 administrators. • The commission approved a resolution on a High Risk Road project. The county will receive two years worth of federal funding ($60,000), Noble said. The county will have a 10 percent match. The money will be used in the first year for a striping project. The engineer also advised the commission that further High Risk funding was going to be based on the road's "Type A injury and fatality occurrence, equal to or greater than four for any one year within the past three years….It's probably a good possibility that we will not be able to compete for this money in the upcoming years. In essence, that is a good thing. We have not had a problem with having any place within the county where we have Type A injuries and fatalities that occur at that rate." Commissioner Rhondel Rhone expressed frustration that "we get penalized for doing a good job….We try to utilize every dollar as best we can." • An agreement was approved on the resurfacing project on County Road 17, from Highway 43 all the way to Highway 154. The cost of the project is $1,361,040.00, Noble said. The county is responsible for a 20 percent match of $272,208. • The commission approved Noble hiring a new laborer for the Road and Bridge Department. An employee had recently resigned. • The following pay increases were approved Tuesday: Carl Olison, from Booking Officer to Central Control, 90 centan hour increase; Patrick Champion, completed Police Academy, $1.25-per-hour increase
Appraiser Shelida Abston, completed probation, 50 cent-perhour increase.
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