In two meetings on Tuesday, Barry County Commissioners recommended agenda items at the committee of the whole meeting in the morning, than acted on them in the afternoon meeting of the full board.
The first action taken in the afternoon meeting was to approve money to continue a Barry County Animal Shelter program. The shelter has taken part in a Trap, Neuter and Release program that reduces the feral cat population in the county for several years. The program, usually supported by grants, pays to trap and spay or neuter feral and barn cats and then release them back where they came from.
In just the last two years, the shelter has overseen the sterilization of almost 1,000 cats, Shelter Director Ken Kirsch said.
The commissioners approved taking $10,000 from the Animal Shelter Donation Fund for the shelter to continue the TNR program until February, 2019. They have a waiting list of 200 cats. The transferred funds will pay to sterilize 200 cats at a rate of five cats a day for four days a week for 10 weeks.
Kirsch said a grant allowing neutering cats for low income people this year depleted the funding by late November. He expects more funding from grants and other sources in February. Kirsch said he has re-established a relationship with C-Snip in Kentwood, a business that performs wholesale spay and neutering, and has a one day a week commitment for the organization to spay or neuter cats at a cost of $45.
They will also continue to use local vets at a charge of $85 for female and $55 for male cats, which is less than the going rate.
Professional licensed feline trappers are called when the shelter plans to gather 35 to 40 barn cats at a time on farms, Kirsch said. He’s finding out about licensed feline trappers, either for the shelter itself or an individual, because C-Snip will sterilize cats for $15, but only if brought in by a professional feline trapper.
In 2017, some 530 cats were trapped, neutered and released. This year, the number is 400.
“The program is working,” Kirsch said. “Some days go by without a TNR request,” something that didn’t happen in the first years of the program.
Also Tuesday, commissioners briefly discussed holding the organizational meeting on Jan. 2, as required by law, and shifting board and committee of the whole meetings in January, using the fifth week in the month. However, since some commissioners said, “We’ll be here already, why not just do it?” they will hold the first monthly committee of the whole meeting directly after the organizational meeting.
The January, 2019 meetings will be as follows:
Wednesday, Jan. 2, organizational meeting at 9 a.m., followed by the committee of the whole meeting.
Tuesday, Jan. 8, regular board of commissioners meeting.
Tuesday, Jan. 15, committee of the whole meeting.
Tuesday, Jan. 22, regular board of commissioners meeting.
The meetings start at 9 a.m.
The yearly calendar of meeting days and times will be approved at the organizational meeting on Jan.2, 2019.
In other business, commissioners approved:
*the Continuum of Care budgets and transferring $2,000 from contractual services to the Continuum of Care fund. The $2,000 is the match for a $21,150 grant for strategic planning for the pilot program that increases the use of in-home care, reducing funds spent on detention and residential placement for those in Juvenile Justice Programs. Barry County and Muskegon County jointly applied for the grant; Barry County is the fiduciary agent.
*transferring $4,000 into the Court Security Fund from the diverted felons fund to make up a shortfall on salaries for court screeners. Undersheriff Matt Houchlei said $80,668.58 has been spent of the $84,500 budgeted for court security, leaving $3,831.50 for the rest of the year. Houchlei said two trials, both lasting two weeks, caused the shortage. Court security uses $7,333.50 a month, leaving a shortfall of $3,502 for 2018.
