No fees will be collected from towns for county service
By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Feb. 18 — On Tuesday night, the Page County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved agreements with each of the county’s three towns to provide animal control services. All sections referring to fees or payments from the towns to the county — a key impasse in the negotiations — have been removed.
“The county is required to provide animal control services,” county attorney Michael Helms told supervisors during Tuesday night’s meeting, citing state code. The new agreement states the county is “to provide all Animal Control Services by sworn Animal Control Officers and Field Technicians as appropriate.”
While the county funds three positions within the Page County Sheriff’s Office assigned to animal control services, part of the issue has been that those deputies were used more and more for patrol duty on the road.
Last summer, Sheriff Chad Cubbage approached the board seeking a 14-percent increase to his annual salary totaling $18,000 to continue managing animal control services. The sheriff pointed out that he had been taking on the liability of that oversight for eight years without any additional stipend, which is not uncommon among regional sheriffs. A few months later, the sheriff agreed to an additional $12,000 to continue managing the service.
Initially, the supervisors attempted to coax the towns into helping pay a portion of that $12,000 salary increase, but town representatives showed up in force at a board meeting late last year to push back against any additional charges for a service that falls under the county’s responsibility. The county now takes on the full responsibility of the salary increase, as opposed to hiring and training new staff to take over the department.
“The county pays all of the $12,000…which is less than what it would take to hire a full-time animal control officer,” Helms told the board on Tuesday, “and [the sheriff] knows this…but that’s another meeting.”
Both Luray and Shenandoah, after consulting with their attorneys, had given their blessings on the agreements approved Tuesday night. The Town of Stanley had not given final approval, according to Helms, but he stated that, “They previously gave their consent.” The county attorney noted that changes made by counsel for Luray and Shenandoah were minor. During the Feb. 12 Stanley Council meeting, Police Chief Ryan Dean stated that attorney Robert Janney was going to review the latest draft for the Town.
Helms also noted plans to create an office for Animal Control at the Page County Animal Shelter. He also noted the potential need for additional staff.
The agreement outlines that town law enforcement are to report emergency situations to the 911 dispatch. Non-emergency calls are to be reported to the county and will be dealt with by Animal Control during normal business hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
The county initially sought the towns’ financial help due to potentially high costs related to emergency veterinary care. State code requires the county to provide emergency care for animals in need, and the nearest emergency veterinary clinic is in Verona (Augusta County).
For more information on Page County government,
visit https://www.pagecounty.virginia.gov/
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Let’s compare the $12,000 per year extra the Sheriff wants, to what a Second Lieutenant co-pilot of a B17 bomber in WW2 would get per month. That would be: $150 in 1945 = $2,659.59 in 2025 Includes base pay and flight pay. $31958.09 per year for the lieutenants, who faced down BF-109 and Focke Wulf 190 fighter aircraft, six across, head on. And for the Sheriff, $154,000 base pay plus $12,000 dog and cat pay, for a total of $166,000 per year. My point? I have no point. I’m just making a comparison.