July 30, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
Getting close!
The City of Smithville and the DeKalb Animal Coalition who have been at odds for several months over who is in control of the shelter may be close to an agreement.
In March the aldermen voted to terminate the city’s 99 year lease with the Animal Coalition to put the city in total control of the operation. The Coalition went to Chancery Court to challenge the decision and was granted a temporary stay or injunction pending a hearing. Since then the parties have been trying to come to terms on an amended contract subject to the court’s approval.
The mayor and aldermen were scheduled to act on the agreement during Thursday night’s special called meeting but Mayor Josh Miller said some finishing touches are still needed.
“I talked to (City Attorney) Vester Parsley this evening and I think it is best that we table this. There are a couple of items we need to talk about a little bit further. I will try to meet with Ms. (Sarah) Cripps (Coalition attorney) and Mr. Parsley sometime next week. We will probably need to have a special called meeting within the next week and a half to vote on something. We just did not feel comfortable taking that to a vote tonight,” said Mayor Miller.