Supervisors make no changes in current arrangement for dog pound services

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, October 19, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with DuWayne Snitker of Waukon, who has provided dog pound services for the County for many years, to discuss a proposal by the Northeast Iowa Humane Society in Decorah to take over those services. Snitker said that the Waukon City Council made the decision to terminate his contract with the City for such services without discussing the matter with him, adding that he was very disappointed in the way the City handled it and that he had just renewed his license to operate a dog pound.
Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick said that he has some concerns about turning dog pound services over to the Humane Society. He said that Waukon police officers have told him that the Humane Society would not provide transportation for dogs that aren’t considered “adoptable” and that he would be nervous about having to transport stray dogs out of the county because it would reduce the number of officers on patrol.
“There may be a time for this, but I don’t think it’s now,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Schellhammer. “It’s been working, so why would we change?”
The Board agreed to take no action on the Humane Society’s proposal, but Supervisor Dan Byrnes suggested revisiting the issue in six months to see how the arrangement works for the City of Waukon.
The Board also met with Allamakee County Treasurer Lori Hesse, who presented the Board with the County’s investment policy, which she said has remained unchanged since 1992 but requires review every two years. Hesse also suggested that the Board increase the maximum deposit amount for all six banks within the County from $8 million to $14 million, explaining that some accounts operate near the maximum deposit limit in the course of day-to-day operations and that the suggested increase would allow for the deposit of funds from the upcoming bond sale for the new jail to be deposited without exceeding the maximum deposit limit. The Board approved the County’s investment policy and increased the deposit limit for all six banks in the County to $14 million.