Redkey offered animal control proposal

REDKEY — An animal control contract has been proposed.

It’s up to the town council to decide if it wants to pay for and continue with the service.

Jay County Humane Society proposed a $7,350 annual contract for animal control in town during a Redkey Town Council meeting Thursday.

Linda Conn, consultant for the humane society, explained that the organization figured the contract cost using a formula created by the American Veterinary Medical Association. With about 1,100 residents in Redkey, she said, it’s estimated the town should have about 162 dogs and 260 cats.

A few folks in the crowd laughed, with resident Billie Hammond pointing out she currently has 19 cats at her home. (She later explained that felines get left at her doorstep.)

“So you probably have more than what those figures say,” responded Conn.

Per the contract, which would start Jan. 1, the humane society will provide animal control year-round. (After hours — evenings, weekends and holidays — would be restricted to emergencies only, such as taking care of an animal hit by a car or dealing with an aggressive animal.)

As long as the town has a contract with the humane society, Conn noted, if anyone in town found a stray animal, they would be able to drop them off at the shelter or call    to have the animal picked up.

Humane society fund-raising committee co-chair Julie Forcum added that Redkey has had an animal control service at no cost to the town for last two years.

Hammond noted the shelter has had issues with overcrowding and has been unable to take animals.

Jay County Humane Society has been fundraising for several years to create a larger facility and house more animals. Its current building on Shadeland Avenue has 12 dog kennels and a small area for cat cages. In 2022, the humane society purchased the former Fastenal building on Indiana 67 (Votaw Street) on the west side of Portland. (It’s roughly 10 minutes away from Redkey.) Muhlenkamp Construction is in the process of renovating the building for animal control, creating space for at least 40 dogs and 100 or more cats. Humane society representatives have said there is also space to add on or put in additional cages as needed.

Conn said once the building’s construction has been completed — it’s expected to be finished as early as late September — the shelter will have ample space to provide animal control services.

Council member Gary Gardner asked how long the humane society keeps animals.

“We keep it until it’s adopted,” Conn said, with humane society treasurer Mindy Weaver pointing out the organization has been a no-kill facility since it started in about 1975.

(Exclusions from no-kill facility rules are aggressive animals that have bitten a human — per state law, they must be euthanized — or animals that are suffering from fatal injuries and euthanized by a veterinarian.)

Council president Erik Hammers questioned if the town would utilize the service up to its full cost. Conn asked if he was suggesting the town pay per animal — Conn had said earlier the contract’s cost comes out to about $175 per animal. (Using those statistics, the cost for the contract would equal about 42 times animal control is utilized by Redkey or its residents per year.)

“You couldn’t do this on your own,” said town attorney Wes Schemenaur. “This is probably the number two or if not number 1 … (the) topic that always comes up is, how do we deal with these stray animals? We’ve talked about contracting with people, we’ve talked about hiring somebody, finding a dog catcher, and you couldn’t hire somebody and get them a van or a truck and put up a kennel for that amount of money.”

He added the town would also have to deal with liabilities if it had its own animal control service versus contracting with the humane society.

“This is probably the best solution I’ve seen in 12 or 13 years (in Redkey) of having a regular service that you’re not waiting on somebody coming from an hour away,” he added.

Hammers noted Chance Retter and John Pierce were absent Thursday, and he encouraged the board to table the decision until all members were present.

Council members Hammers, Gardner and Floyd Life agreed to table the matter.

Also Thursday, council signed a $90,000 contract with Choice One Engineering to conduct a master utility study. Approximately $81,000 of the cost is covered by a grant from Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs signed by council at a special meeting July 27. Choice One Engineering will inspect Redkey’s water, wastewater and stormwater utilities and put together a plan for tackling utility issues.

Council also gave permission to Gail Moore to get a permit to put a modular home on her family’s field across from her property on Delaware Street. She noted her uncle, Bob Miller, has been sick and would like to move back to Redkey with his wife. The couple moved to Tennessee years ago.

Eley confirmed Moore has a copy of the town’s ordinance stipulating the need for a foundation underneath the modular home and other requirements, and she’s also been in contact with town employee Randy Young about the necessary utility work.

In other business, council:

•Discussed looking into zoning restrictions, with Schemenaur suggesting they ask to be a part of Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals. (Participation would allow Redkey to apply for grants through OCRA’s Blight Clearance Program for unsafe structures.)

•Met Nate Kimball, the new community development coordinator for Jay County employed by East Central Indiana Regional Planning. Jay County Commissioners approved a contract — it comes out to about $8,333 monthly over 24 months — with the organization Monday, which included Kimball’s employment. His job includes attending meetings to gather information about possible grants the town could use and qualify for.

•Learned the wastewater plant had a severe leak in the roof in the last few weeks. Electrical issues caused the plant to shut down for several hours Tuesday. Young pointed out he has been monitoring the facility closely since then to hopefully avoid the plant “dying” or when the healthy bacteria needed for the cleaning process would stop working because of the shut down.

•Were informed the town will be receiving a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, which will allow Redkey Fire Department to purchase 25 new masks and 20 self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and 20 additional bottles.

•Heard another request from Gavin Grady to keep chickens at his house. Grady pointed out he has owned chickens for two years and asked if he could pay the town a fee to have them. (Although he has been cited several times, he has not yet been fined for violating town ordinance.) Hammers noted the issue has been voted on by the town board — Friday marked a year since council rejected on a 3-2 vote a proposed ordinance that would have allowed residents to have chickens on their property — and council moved onto the next agenda item.

•Appointed Eley as Redkey’s representative at the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) 2.0 regional workshops.

•Paid $108,551.76 in claims.