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HHS answers county’s questions at meeting

ALPENA –The Alpena County Board of Commissioners had questions about the Huron Humane Society, its finances and if it is complying with the terms of its service agreement with the county.

Some of those questions were answered during a private meeting between a pair of commissioners and several officers from the HHS board. All involved said the meeting was productive and are moving foward with the care of the animals in mind.

At the conclusion of Wednesday’s finance committee meeting Commissioner John Kozlowski raised concerns he had about the shelter, its practices and most of all its finances.

Kozlowski issued a list of concerns he had with HHS including that there is supposedly $6,000 to $8,000 that can’t be accounted for. Kozlowski also questioned why the shelter’s accountant, Straley, Lamp & Kraenzlein, severed ties with the organization last year and why there is no explanation why in any of the meeting minutes.

Kozlowski said because the county contracts with the shelter to care for animals that are seized or picked up as strays and public money pays for the service, he has an obligation to be sure those funds are being used properly. Alpena County pays HHS $17,500 a year to care for animals that are in the custody of the county.

Kozlowski thought the meeting was productive and although there may have been things that were done exactly as the agreement was spelled out, he said he is confident the humane society will work hard to meet the demands.

“I think it was productive and a step in the right direction,” Kozlowski said. “I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and I believe they will do a better job of complying with some of things in the agreement that maybe there were struggling with a bit.”

As far as the missing money goes, HHS President Susan Nielsen said the organization is set to have a full audit done, but it is waiting to learn the fate of a grant request made that would pay for it. She said if the money is allocated to the shelter, an audit will be done.

“There is nobody on this current board that doesn’t want a full, comprehensive audit done, but we just want to make sure the money is there to do it,” she said. “We cannot stop feeding the dogs and cats to have one done.”

Nielsen agreed with Kozlowski that there was progress made and both parties are now on the same page. Nielsen said finances are being straightened out and records are being put in order. She said last year the shelter ended up in the black and things are looking up.

“Stay in the black and take care of the animals, that is our main goal,” Nielsen said.

Kozlowski said he doesn’t intend to bring the topic up at Tuesday’s commissioners meeting and will instead support the shelter, while keeping an eye on it. He said the air needed to be cleared because of recent controversy and he is more comfortable moving forward.

Nielsen said HHS will work hard to do a better job of keeping the county abreast of what is going on as well.

“When you get government funding there needs to be a high level of transparency and there certainly was today,” she said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but we are going to do our best we provide the county with timely, accurate information.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews.

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