A partnership between Russell County and Phenix City that led to the opening of a new animal shelter last week may be in jeopardy over a $25,000 payment dispute.
In a letter dated Oct. 22 from City Attorney James Graham Jr., the city has proposed to sever all ties with the county because of an alleged breach of contract.
The letter from Graham states: “The joint City/County project concerning the animal shelter has encountered several problems which the City considers to be a breach of the agreement between and City and County. Most recently, the County authorized a $50,000 expenditure without consulting the City and has sent the City a request that it pay one-half of this expenditure. Further, the Animal Shelter Authority Board has violated its agreement by refusing to work with the County Administrator and the City Manager and going directly to members of the County Commission.”
“They’ve bypassed myself and (County Administrator) LeAnn (Horne) on a number of occasions,” said City Manager Wallace Hunter. “It’s been difficult.”
Graham’s letter was sent in response to a $25,000 bill sent to the city by the county asking the city to pay half of a $50,000 allocation approved by the Russell County Commission on Oct. 14.
During the meeting, the commissioners held a closed-door session and when they returned to the commission chambers, they approved the allocation and agreed to send a letter to the city the next day.
This request for payment appears to be at the center of the dispute.
“The city knew nothing about the meeting,” Graham said. Wallace and Horne were at the commission meeting but neither was asked to attend the closed-door session that shouldn’t have been allowed under the law.
However, Lee says the letter was all a big mistake — his mistake.
“I don’t agree with that letter. It was my error. It was not the intention of the commission. That’s going to be corrected. I’m going to rescind that motion and make a new one and apologize to the city. I’m going to correct that and make it like it should be,” Lee said. “We got back in and they asked me to make the motion. It was supposed to be the city will be informed of our action, not billed. The city was not supposed to have to pay any part of it.”
Still, city officials said this is just the latest problems with the shelter.
According to the agreement, a board or authority of five is supposed to operate the facility and address any additional needs to the city manager and county administrator, who serve as ex-officio members, not go directly to commissioners or councilors. The city appoints two board members, the county appoints two board members and the four members appoint the fifth member.
“There have been some other problems that the city is not happy with,” Lee said. “I talked to the people in the city and reminded them that they can talk to their board members if they have problems.
“I still believe it’s a worthwhile project and I believe it could still work,” Lee said.
This is not the only joint venture between the two municipalities. They share the jail and the public library.
“The animal authority board has violated the lease agreement in that they have circumvented Wallace and LeAnn and gone straight to the county commission,” Graham said.
Although Lee and other commissioners hope something can be worked out, it is unclear if the city is willing to negotiate.
The city hopes to rectify the problem in one of two ways. It can either purchase the county’s rights to the facility for $298,000 ($311,000 minus $13,000 in equipment discarded by the animal shelter) or the county can purchase the city’s rights for $311,000.
The city still operates a fully functional animal shelter and officials said if the county agrees to buy the city out, the city can continue to operate its shelter.
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