St. Joseph Animal Control receives $15K for spay/neuter program, facility upgrade
St. Joseph County Animal Control has received two anonymous grants to help the Centreville-based agency in two key areas.
During its monthly board meeting last week, St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners learned more about the windfall from finance director Angie Steinman.
She said anonymous donors provided $5,000 toward the department’s spay/neuter program. The other gift was $10,000 to be allocated for an upgrade at the department.
Steinman elaborated on both.
“The spay/neuter grant is, of course, to help get the dogs and cats at the shelter spayed or neutered at no charge for new adoptions,” Steinman said. “The other grant is to get the floor resurfaced at the animal shelter.”
More:St. Joseph County to review 28 requests for American Rescue Plan Act money
During the commission’s Aug. 12 executive committee, grant writer James Hissong said both grants are from the same anonymous source. He explained the floor-resurfacing project.
“The cement floors in the shelter are porous and they really want to have an epoxy coat to make sure that germs and bacteria don’t sink in,” he said. “This anonymous source of funding has been ongoing for us … we’ve established a good relationship with the foundation and they continue to provide support.”
The grants do not require a match.
Sheriff's office purchases body cameras
Also at the Aug. 16 meeting, commissioners approved a request from sheriff Mark Lillywhite for the purchase of 38 body cameras. His $217,000 request includes cloud storage, in-car cameras and upgrades as circumstances warrant. The deal covers a 10-year period and is being worked out with a company called WatchGuard.
Funding will come from the $2 million commissioners allocated toward special purchases from the $11.8 million it received through American Rescue Plan Act funding.
Other news
Commissioners accepted a proposal from Kalamazoo-based Eckert Wordell for design services related to the former Three Rivers Public Library. The county recently purchased the West Michigan Avenue facility, where it plans to relocate Probate Court, Family Court and Friend of the Court from the Centreville courthouse.
Commissioners agreed to field bids to resurface the parking lot on the east side of the courthouse. Administrator Teresa Doehring said a water pipe under the north end of the lot sprung a leak and required emergency repair. In the process, a portion of the parking lot’s cement had to be removed. Doehring explained the lot was to be repaved in 2024. She suggested the task be performed now, as a portion of the lot will soon be repaved anyway. Commissioners expect the task will cost no more than $50,000.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Local animal control gets $15K for spay/neuter program, floor upgrade
