Animals picked up by Iola city employees won’t have to be held as long before they’re put up for adoption.
Iola City Council members approved a request from the Allen County Animal Rescue Facility to change their contract, dictating animals taken to the shelter be held for five business days before ACARF officials can put the dogs or cats up for adoption.
Doing so should lessen overcrowding issues, explained Code Enforcement Officer Gregg Hutton.
The city’s old contract with ACARF required the animals to be held for 10 days before they can be adopted.
However, the facility fills (and refills) rapidly, Hutton added.
Holding the animals five business days still ensures Iolans have sufficient time to claim their animal if it is taken to animal control employees to ACARF, Hutton noted. Five business days is typically seven calendar days because of weekends.
Hutton noted city employees frequently take steps to ensure animals picked up in Iola are not pets.
Oftentimes, an animal will be kept at city offices for a while before it’s taken to the shelter in LaHarpe, he said.
“I know we have police and animal control officers who go above and beyond to make sure animals aren’t taken to ACARF” too soon, Councilman Steve French added.
“The best thing an owner can do is get their dogs tagged,” in case the animal is picked up by the city, Hutton said. “If there’s a tag with a number, we can find the owner immediately.”
IOLA will spend more than $150,000 to replace three large power poles.
The 85-foot laminated poles are specifically designed for large electric transmission lines and 90-degree turns in the system, and do not require large guy wires for stabilization.
The 69kv power poles are located along the southwest power feed into Iola’s electric grid.
The first pole is near the entrance to Iola’s power plant along U.S. 54; the second is along Bruner Street, at the northeast corner of Iola’s Riverside Park; and the third is on Sutherland Road south of the park.
The poles will come from Laminated Wood Systems, based out of Seward, Neb., the same company that manufactured the old poles that were installed in the mid 1990s.
The largest pole, weighing more than 25,000 pounds, is priced at more than $70,000; two slightly lighter poles, each weighing 17,000 pounds, are priced at about $40,000 each.
