HENDERSON COUNTY-Henderson County Commissioners’ Court voted Sept. 24 to approve an interlocal agreement for animal shelter services with the City of Athens.
County Judge Wade McKinney said the agreement comes after “multiple months” of discussion between the County Attorney’s Office and the City of Athens. Assistant County Attorney Kenneth Strawn said the City of Athens will be providing animal shelter services under a five-year agreement which starts Oct. 1.
“It’s been a long time coming, a lot of effort, so we’re pretty proud of this agreement,” said Strawn, who added there will be a spay and neuter program offered through the city for residents of Henderson County.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Scott Tuley asked Strawn whether the agreement is “basically the same agreement that we already have with them.”
Strawn replied, “Financially, it’s going to be similar when you add in the totality of what we were paying. As far as the services provided, the city’s really going to handle that, as far as providing those shelter services, the brick-and-mortar building, and really (Athens Police) Chief (Chad) Allen and Miss (Elizabeth) Borstad (the Athens city manager) have gone to a third party to help them orchestrate that.” 
Tuley also asked whether the agreement would be open to other Henderson County municipalities, to which Strawn answered he doesn’t know. 
McKinney said the contract is between Henderson County and the City of Athens, adding “anything outside of that is independent of this agreement.”
Stated Precinct 3 Commissioner Chuck McHam, “I think it will be welcome when it opens Oct. 1.”
Said Precinct 4 Commissioner Mark Richardson, “It looks like they’ve recruited some good, professional people to operate it, also. Looks like they might come from SPCA and some other organizations.”
McKinney noted the county was previously giving $261,000 to the facility under the other agreement, money which he said is continuing. There will be an additional $38,000 forthcoming for the spay and neuter program, he added, totaling $299,000 of county support paid in quarterly installments.
The court also approved accepting applications and resumes for the Henderson County fire marshal position, which removes emergency management aspects other than what will be involved with an independent emergency management office, according to McKinney. 
Also approved by the court was amending a Tyler Technologies contract for financial software. County Auditor Ann Marie Monk said the county planned to go live with the new software next month but have delayed that until Jan. 2. 
In other business, the court:
• Approved a request from the Henderson County Tax Assessor-Collector to refund overpaid taxes, issuing one check of $5,848.37.
• Approved paying $189.44 for ammunition reimbursement for the 392nd District Court bailiff’s peace officer licensing.
• Approved the 2025 renewal for the CountyChoice Silver Retiree Medical Program, which Human Resources Director Norma Bell said is a Medicare supplement.
• Approved a right-of-way permit for Brightspeed to install fiber-optic cable along County Road 2403 North, Joe Dupree Road, Lynn Dell Drive, Waller Road, Hills Lane, West Will White Road, County Road 2405, County Road 2406, Jones Road, the county’s part of Mason Lane, as well as Austin’s Circle, all located in Precinct 1.
• Approved paying fiscal year 2024 bills of $407,056.32.