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Humboldt City Council considers animal shelter agreement

HUMBOLDT — Humboldt City Council reviewed an animal shelter agreement Monday that could help a fledgling Humboldt Community Animal Shelter get off the ground.

The agreement would provide up to $7,500 annually from the city, potentially joining up to a $10,000 annual contribution from Humboldt County to help the shelter afford a lease-purchase or financing arrangement on a desperately needed new facility in Humboldt city limits.

The agreement would be in addition to a previous promise from the city for a one-time $2,500 donation for the purchase of land for the shelter.

With combined potential contributions from the city and county of Humboldt, the shelter would be able to make an annual budget centered around $15,000, plus another $2,500 in potential matching funds from the county.

City Administrator Travis Goedken proposed using the city’s cable TV fund instead of the general fund for the effort to stabilize the shelter. The cable TV fund, which City Clerk Gloria Christensen said receives approximately $15,000 to $20,000 per year, is typically used for one-time donations.

But with the contribution of the city, the county, and other cities in Humboldt County such as Dakota City, the immediate housing needs of an expanded shelter could be met. Preliminary estimates put annual housing costs for the shelter at about $22,000 per year for a lease-purchase agreement.

“This would not be the city or county owning or operating the facility,” Goedken said, “just providing a contribution to the 501(c)(3).”

He presented the agreement as a win for the county, the cities in the county, and the shelter itself looking for a way forward after the city and county officially severed ties with Animal Control Officer Merri Hansen, terminating her contract in the midst of social media mudslinging.

Following Hansen’s Facebook posts which board members said spread disinformation that unfairly libeled them, in addition to a subsequent story in The Messenger, HCAS’s board voted unanimously to terminate Hansen from her volunteer position as co-director of the nonprofit shelter.

As board members speculated whether too much damage had been done to the shelter’s reputation, Hansen received a letter notifying her of the termination, “in order to see the cause move forward,” for the 501(c)(3) established in November, 2018.

Board President Michelle Erickson previously told The Messenger that “if the board breaks apart, all the financing breaks apart,” for the shelter’s goal to get out of its undersized 260-square-foot building.

After forging agreements, the shelter would be able to move forward by researching building designs within a budget.

“It can be at least a place for our animals to go,” Goedken said Monday, reminding the City Council that should the shelter’s current location on a private Iowa Avenue property be sold or otherwise modified in its arrangements, the shelter could be forced to move animals quickly.

Humboldt County Supervisors discussed the same agreement earlier Monday, but declined to pass the agreement this week.

“I don’t know of a single city or county that operates its own shelter in the state,” the city administrator said. “This is probably the best way for that to happen, for cities and counties to buy an annual contribution.”

The agreement would guarantee the shelter’s responsibilities in maintaining stray cat and dog populations and could include a “trap and release” program to sterilize cats, for a per-animal fee, to eventually reduce the feral population of the county.

Goedken said the provision would be a cost-effective and humane, but effective alternative to euthanization, at a cost not to exceed $100 per cat. City Council members speculated that setting up cages in certain areas could yield an effective number of cats for the program.

Another provision of the agreement would allow customers to opt-in to voluntary shelter donations conveniently via their utility bills.

City Council members and county supervisors will have time to consider those add-on options in the agreement before it comes up for a vote in future meetings.

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