One option out of the mix for Linn County animal shelter

The cost of collecting and caring for rural Linn County's stray animals will increase this year, no matter who's doing the job.

County supervisors at this morning's work session directed staff to seek a quote from Cedar Rapids to house strays from unincorporated Linn County. If the city's interested, supervisors will consider the option when the county's current contract with the non-profit Cedar Valley Humane Society is up at the end of the fiscal year June 30.

"The board of supervisors will have the option from the Cedar Valley Humane Society and the city,"  said Jim Hodina, environmental services director for Linn County Public Health.

The county has paid the humane society $60,000 a year for the past dozen years, a cost Hodina expects will rise. He said he expects the society to propose a fee-for-service arrangement that would cost the county about $90,000 based on the monthly average of 25 cats and 15 dogs handled under the current contract.

The supervisors' action effectively ends the county's chance of sharing the costs and management of a new shelter with the city. The city council voted last month to replace its flood-damaged shelter with a new facility on the Kirkwood Community College campus off  76th Avenue SW.

"If the city has any interest, they can come back with a number" for a county contract, Supervisor Linda Langston said. If not, the county remaining with the humane society would probably be the county's likely course.

The year's first meeting also saw new Supervisor John Harris take his District 5 seat, ending Democrat Jim Houser's 19-year term. The Republican and former Palo mayor narrowly defeated Houser in November.

Supervisors also voted Ben Rogers this year's board chairman, with Brent Oleson, the board's other Republican member, named vice chair. They also approved the year's liaison and committee assignments.