The Centralia City Council approved a memorandum of understanding at its regular meeting Monday night to temporarily allow Marion County to utilize the Centralia animal shelter as the county animal control facility, with the expectation that the building will soon be sold to the county for permanent use.
The memorandum of understanding allows Marion County Animal Control to immediately begin using the facility at 853 Woods Lane while Centralia and Marion County negotiate sale of the property to the county. While Centralia currently maintains ownership, Marion County will be fully responsible for staffing, animal care, veterinary services, food and supplies at the facility. The memorandum grants the county permission to use the facility through March 31, although City Manager Galen Mahle expects sale of the property will be completed much sooner than that.
“It’s good through the end of March,” Mahle said. “Our expectation is that the sale of the property will be done well before that, but we wanted to give plenty of time just in case. The survey of the property has now been completed, so we’re just waiting on getting all the paperwork together. The expectation is that the MOU lasting through the end of March will give us plenty of time to get through the sale.”
With the county expected to take care of dogs, Mahle says the city is still working on a plan to handle cats in Centralia.
