Humane Society requests city funding

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council introduced salary legislation and heard a funding request from the Van Wert County Humane Society during its regular meeting held Monday in Council Chambers.

City Council approved introduction of three salary ordinances for the coming year, including one that deals only with employees of Van Wert Municipal Court, during Monday’s meeting. The legislation will be read three times before final passage so that those interested can review the ordinances.

In legislative action taken on Monday, City Council approved two healthcare-related ordinances, with the first being an ordinance setting rates for employee participation and contributions to the city’s healthcare plan. The second ordinance includes information on the city’s Health Savings Account program. Both measures were passed as emergency legislation, which means they will go into effect immediately after being signed into law.

A resolution recognizing former city economic development director Cindy Leis for her years of service to the city was also unanimously approved by City Council.

Pete Weir, president of the Van Wert County Humane Society Board of Trustees, was also at the meeting to request funding for a part-time shelter manager the group recently hired to help ensure that someone is available at the shelter from 1-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Weir said the new Humane Society board has made huge strides at the local animal shelter following problems created during the tenure of former county dog warden Rich Strunkenburg, with more than 500 dogs and 200 cats housed there in the past few months. Weir said volunteers and the board have put in approximately 2,000 hours making improvements at the shelter.

Weir noted that, despite the progress made, one common complaint was heard from those seeking to use the shelter: There often wasn’t anyone there.

“Despite all the accomplishments achieved, one complaint kept surfacing, one complaint kept holding us back … nobody was available at the shelter when the dog warden had to go on runs, or after his normal working hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday,” Weir told Council.

That problem was compounded by the fact that those hours were also when most volunteers also worked at the shelter.

To deal with the problem, the Humane Society hired a part-time shelter manager to work from 1-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“This would not only enable the shelter to be open to Van Wert County and surrounding area citizens during the hours of 1-6 p.m., but would also help guarantee that the health and well-being of the shelter animals could be more closely monitored,” Weir said.

While noting that having the part-time shelter manager is already proving to be an asset, Weir noted that the Humane Society, which operates primarily on donations from the public, is seeking $6,000 from both city and county government to help defray the cost of the shelter manager’s $21,000 annual salary.

Councilman At-Large Stan Agler, while not opposing the funding request, did question why the Humane Society doesn’t receive a portion of dog licensing fees.

City Law Director John Hatcher did note that the city, which receives a portion of fines levied against those failing to purchase dog licenses, has seen those revenues increase since current Dog Warden Randy Averesch has been employed in that position.

Weir also noted that the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office pays the salary and benefits of Averesch, who is a county deputy sergeant.

The funding request was assigned to Council’s Finance Committee for further study. The next regular meeting of Van Wert City Council will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday, December 14, in Council Chambers, located on the second floor of the Van Wert Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St.