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HHS receives $3K from twp

ALPENA — After initially not budgeting any money for the Huron Humane Society, the Alpena Township Board of Trustees allocated $3,000 to the group, far below the $10,000 the group previously requested.

During the April board meeting Huron Humane Society President Lori Stephan and Treasurer Edna Sorensen requested an increase in funding from the previous $6,000 to $10,000. Sorensen told the board the increase in funding was so the shelter could keep up with the community’s needs.

At that time the board had just adopted its new fiscal year budget, which had not allocated any funds to the shelter.

Township Clerk Karie Bleau, who could not find any contracts with the shelter at that point, said she and Treasurer Laura Ellery-Somers would look into it further. During Monday’s meeting Bleau made the recommendation to allocate $3,000 from the election fund to the shelter.

“I would be comfortable and confident if we took $3,000 out of that line item and gave it to the humane society to fund this for this year,” she said. “I know it’s not what they asked for but frankly that is all we can carve out of this budget.”

Bleau said there was $12,500 in the election line item that also needs to cover new voting equipment but it was estimated the cost would be a maximum of $8,000.

HHS Manager Natalie Francis was present for the meeting and said while she appreciated the allocation, the amount was far below what was expected.

“It’s going to be really hard to take in the township’s animals with that money,” she said. “And we take in a lot of animals from the township.”

She said the previous $6,000 the township funded was not enough, which is why Stephan and Sorensen requested the increase to $10,000.

Township Supervisor Nathan Skibbe said the group could come back and request another allocation later in the year after a better understanding of the township’s finances is determined.

Bleau said she recorded in the meeting’s minutes that a Huron Humane Society official would be coming back in September, halfway through the township’s fiscal year, to address the board again.

The board unanimously approved the $3,000 allocation to the shelter from the election line item.

In other business:

∫ Dave Robbins, who has been serving as acting chief of the fire department since Kevin Osbourneresignation, was approved to be interim fire chief and interim fire inspector. Robbins will not see a pay change after the changes.

∫ The township will be conducting open interviews for a new building inspector at 5 p.m. June 26. This will be one hour before the normal trustees meeting.

Tyler Winowiecki can be reached via email at twinowiecki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688. Follow Tyler on Twitter tw_alpenanews.

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