Published: June 23, 2009 09:53 am      

Agreement with Humane Society approved

In a short claims meeting Monday, Elkhart County Commissioners approved an amendment to an agreement establishing animal control services for the town of Middlebury for the second half of 2009.

According to county attorney Craig Buche, the agreement is part of a larger county-wide agreement approved earlier this year establishing the Commissioners as the intermediaries between the Elkhart County Humane Society and the city of Elkhart, the town of Wakarusa and the town of Bristol regarding animal control matters over the course of 2009.

Through the agreement, the various communities included in the agreement pay the county for its portion of animal control services, and then the county pays the Humane Society.

However, Buche said Middlebury town officials had originally only agreed to a six-month contract in order to observe how the agreement played out.

Now at the half-year mark, Buche said that the Town Council has agreed to join the other participating communities in signing on to the agreement for another six months, effectively securing animal control services for the town from July 1 to Dec. 31 at a cost of approximately $2,600.