The Limestone County Commission approved a contract Monday morning for animal control services between the Limestone County Commission and Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter (Dr. Robert E, Pitman) from Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2023. The vote was 3-1 with Commissioner Danny Barksdale voting against.

Barksdale was opposed to the contract after having questions regarding the cost of some of the services provided by Dr. Pitman. The contract is for $558,487.

“Two years ago, Dr. Pitman, when he come to the Commission, he submitted a profit and loss statement. The rent on the animal shelter, he is charging $60,000 a year for. He charged for spay and neuter surgeries $277,000,” Barksdale said.

According to numbers Barksdale provided, in 2019, the shelter reported 477 adoptions for a cost of $580 per spay/neuter. “Morgan County does theirs for $110,” Barksdale said. “I’m just not sure we are getting the most value for our buck.”

He added that the entire 2021 shelter/animal control budget for Morgan County was $318,695. “I don’t know what their budget is this year, but I am satisfied it would be around $350,000. That’s why I voted no. I voted yes last year because I thought we would address the situation but we didn’t. We just kicked the can down the road again and I got tired of kicking it down the road.”

The News Courier reached out to Dr. Pitman regarding Barksdale’s concerns, but he was unavailable.

The commission also approved the FY2022-2023 budget, effective Oct. 1, 2022 and approved the pay scale to reflect a four percent cost of living adjustment, effective Oct. 2, 2022. The budget was not available at the meeting and was not available on the commission website immediately. You can now find the budget linked to this story online. Look for a full story about the budget in The News Courier later this week.

• A resolution for Limestone County Commission to adopt the AEMA Division F Regional Mitigation Plan as an official plan.

• Resolution authorizing the Chairman to sign and submit all required documents for submitting a formal amendment request to ADECA to amend the existing CDBG CV Grant to install a P25 Communication network to serve the county.

• A resolution to adopt policies and procedures for non-infrastructure projects to be carried out by sub-recipients.

• Approved the Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) FY 2021 Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) ARPA Cooperative Agreement.

• Approved a Long Term Detention Subsidy contract between Limestone County and the Alabama Department of Youth Services.

• Approved a license agreement between the Limestone County Commission and Recovery Services of DeKalb County, Inc. for use of office space which in turn works with Community Corrections’ program.

Personnel, policies, and staffing actions

• Hire Hillary Riggins as the Human Resource Specialist, effective Oct. 3, 2022.

• Hire Andrew Dill as County Attorney, effective Oct. 3, 2022.

• Approved the staffing plan, effective Oct. 1, 2022.

Engineer’s report

• Preliminary and final approval for Marberry Subdivision, a minor subdivision, creating two lots in District 1 located on the northwest corner of the intersection of AL Hwy 251 and Shelton Road East.

• Preliminary and final approval for Tanner Quarterback Club Subdivision, a minor subdivision, creating one lot in District 3 located 175’ east of the intersection of Huntsville Brownsferry Road and Stewart Road.

• Preliminary and final approval for Buck Island Subdivision, a minor subdivision, creating two lots in District 4 located on the south side of AL Hwy 99 just east of Flanagan Road.

• Preliminary and final approval for Lucas Landing, a minor subdivision, creating seven lots in district 3 located on the west side of Lucas Ferry Road.

• Preliminary and final approval for Adelia Subdivision, a minor subdivision, creating 20 lots in district 4 located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Quinn Road and Zehner Road.

• Preliminary approval for Brownsferry Village Subdivision Phase 1, a major subdivision, creating 70 lots in District 2 located on Gray Road at the end of Henry Clay Drive.

• Final approval for Natures Trail Phase 3, a major subdivision, creating 161 lots in District 3 located on the north side of Powell Road approximately one mile west of Burgreen Road.

• Final approval for Ricketts Farm Phase 3, a major subdivision, creating 61 lots in District 2 located on Jones Road approximately 1/8 mile north of Pepper Road.

The next Limestone County Commission meeting is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 3, at 9 a.m.