DEMOREST — The Demorest City Council is pushing back against Habersham County Animal Control service after the city received a demand letter from the county for payment of more than $24,000.
Habersham County has been providing animal control services to the city under an intergovernmental agreement for several years, but the county didn't keep up its end of the agreement, Demorest officials say.
"Animal control has come up in multiple meetings," said Mayor Rick Austin. "One of the things that we have found out … is that the previous agreement that was with the county had a stipulation in that if the county changed the animal control ordinance and the city did not adopt said changes that the agreement between the city and the county would be negated."
But Austin said Habersham County Manager Phil Sutton and County Attorney Donnie Hunt assert the agreement remains in force and that the City of Demorest owes the county for animal control services provided in 2015, 2016 and for those upcoming in 2017.
Austin said the city has found documented changes to the county's animal control ordinance at the online Municipal Code site.
"It turns out that a quick look on MuniCode showed that the county changed the animal control ordinance in September of 2013 and then again in January 2014," Austin said. "The city was not notified of any changes and therefore it's the city's contention that because we weren't notified it nullifies the agreement in total, and that the city does not owe the county $24,000 and some change for years 2015, 16 and 17."
Austin and other Demorest officials have been vocal in their concern about the amount the city is being billed for the specified time period, averaging $524 per call, but the county isn't backing down.
"The county has sent a demand letter for that, and I'm sure our attorneys will discuss it," Austin said.
During Tuesday night's city council work session, Austin pulled out a copy of the four-page Demorest Animal Control Ordinance, which he said needs modernization. He asked council members to bring in samples from other jurisdictions for further discussion.
Habersham County's animal control ordinance is nearly 50 pages, Austin said.
"We've discussed as a city updating our animal control ordinance, and we talked about that in great detail," Austin said. "We want it to be something that's not cumbersome nor burdensome, but also protects citizens and property owners as far as animals are concerned. We talked about how we might implement that animal control in the future, using our own resources."
In the interim, Austin and council members agreed that the city will not request Habersham County Animal Control to respond inside the city. Instead, Police Chief Robin Krockum was asked to have his officers respond to emergency cases while City Manager Steve Lindsey and City Attorney Joey Homans study the requirements and training needed for a more permanent city-based solution to problem animals.
"One of the things that we talked about is that in a small city like this being neighborly," Austin said. "Oftentimes, problems with animals can be easily addressed by just talking neighbor to neighbor and figuring out how to best deal with potential animal problems."
Austin said the city is going to continue looking at providing an in-house solution to problem dogs and cats, but pointed out that at some point the city is going to have to address the increasing population of groundhogs, foxes and deer that are becoming a nuisance.
"We'll see how this materializes and how we proceed in the future," Austin said.
Demorest is not the only Habersham County municipality looking to provide its own animal control.
On Monday, the Baldwin City Council voted unanimously to hire an animal control officer, effective immediately.
That move followed a closed session to discuss personnel, and came on the motion of Baldwin City Councilman Dustin Mealor and the second of Councilman Theron Ayers.
