RE: [RDOGI] County, cities agree on animal control - Kane Co

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/822434,2_1_AU03_KCTALK_S1.article

County, cities agree on animal control --for moment

March 3, 2008

It appears Kane County and its municipalities have solved their
long-running dispute over who should pay for animal-control services
and how much.

At least for now.

The Kane County Board is set this month to accept an agreement to
provide animal-control services in the municipalities. The Executive
Committee will get a chance to look at the resolution at its meeting
at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The agreement basically sets fees for the county's warden service,
which is the actual picking up of a stray animal, and its housing,
which is keeping the animal at the county facility at Peck and
Keslinger roads.

The two are separate because it is possible some north-end
municipalities could use only the warden service and still have its
animals kept at the Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin. In fact,
it is likely all municipalities will opt to join the county contract
except for Carpentersville, East and West Dundee, South Elgin and Elgin.

The new contract is not open to Aurora, which provides its own
animal-control service, and Elgin, which is considered a special case
because of its size. Kenneth Shepro, the attorney who negotiated the
contract with the Metro West Council, acting on behalf of county
municipalities, said the county and Elgin might end up with a separate
contract.

The main sticking point between municipalities and the county for
months now has been if there should be an assessment on the cities to
go toward paying for the county's new animal-control facility.

That was resolved by putting off the issue for the next three to five
years. The new contract will be for three years, with individual,
one-year options for the next two years after that.

Shepro says that gives the cities "a three-year window" to figure out
how they want to house stray animals -- either do it themselves or pay
the county to do it. Shepro says county officials are hoping the
municipalities build their own shelter because the county's is big
enough to provide for unincorporated areas for a long time.

"My suspicion is after three years we will kind of change our minds,"
Shepro said.