The deal isn’t done yet, but Marion County Board Chair Steve Whritenour is confident the county will be able to take control of the Centralia Animal Control facility by the end of the year.
Whritenour says there was a delay when Centralia decided to split the animal control property, selling the county the facility and three acres and keeping the other eight acres for their future use.
“Right now, the state’s attorney is drafting a memorandum of understanding, which I will have to Centralia in the next couple of days,” Whritenour said. “Centralia will review it, and it’s just giving us access to start bringing the dogs to the shelter. Hopefully there in early January we’ll have everything, all the legal documents for the shelter done, and the purchase will then be complete.”
The county board went into closed session Tuesday night to discuss interviews for new part-time positions to help with animal control and run the animal pound. No hiring decisions have yet been made. Whritenour says they will continue to rely on volunteers to help at the Centralia Shelter as has been the practice by the city of Centralia. As part of the agreement with Centralia, the county will take over animal control duties in the city. By state law, the county is required to provide animal control services county-wide.
In other action, the county board increased the county engineer’s salary to $141,200 as set by the state to receive half-reimbursement of the salary. Highway Engineer Alex Kreke reported a new roof on the county’s highway garage office is nearly complete.
The board was told the fiscal year 2024 audit is now in draft stage and will soon be completed, with the auditor moving on to fiscal 2025 as they continue to try and catch up.
Sheriff’s Department Investigator Anthony Decker reported the provider of the county’s telephone system will be installing a new piece of equipment free of charge that should stop calls from being dropped at the sheriff’s office. The board is looking at the possibility of bidding out a new phone system due to on-going problems with the current system.
