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Chattahoochee Humane Society Board member Dantz Frazer addressed the LaFayette council at its Feb. 10 meeting. The CHS and council came to a begrudging agreement on animal services. 

Frazer came to the meeting on behalf of CHS. He said the Humane Society had not yet been compensated for 32 animals they took in for the city, from May to December 2024. The city of LaFayette is not required to have animal services due to its population size, unlike Valley, Lanett and Chambers County. However, the Humane Society has offered and provided services to the city for many years. 

City Clerk Louis Davidson said he was not able to pay the bill before asking the council because the cost per animal had changed. 

For decades, according to Frazer, LaFayette had paid $45 per animal. However, the contract for that price had lapsed some time ago. In May, Frazer, CHS Director Amber Mingin, Mayor Kenneth Vines, Christopher Trice, the current police chief, and former Police Chief George Rampey had two meetings to increase the cost from $45 to a price to be determined, in the range of $125 to $150 per animal. 

Frazer said the final cost had yet to be determined as the contract was still being finalized. Frazer said he had informal conversations after the meetings but had still not heard back when the year ended on a final number. 

Frazer said a bill was sent to the city for the 32 animals at a median price of $137.50 per animal for a total price of $4,400. He told VT-N that the $137.50 number was invoiced because it fell in the center of the range. The board member asked the bill be paid and the new contract with the $137.50 amount be finalized. 

“It’s two separate issues. One, yes, we have the contract outstanding. But two, he’s here because there are some services that were provided before I received an official contract, and he’s asking for you to agree to pay the amount for the new contract for those services that have already been provided,” Davidson explained. 

Frazer argued that the $45 per animal contract had not been valid for many years, but CHS had been honoring it because there was a “need.”

“We’ve obviously faced a significant increase in cost, which has pushed up our cost per animal a great deal for every animal that comes into our shelter,” Frazer said.

However, Terry Mangram said that the council had not been notified of the increase in price. 

“So why should we pay 137.50 per animal when we’ve got a $45 rate,” Mangram asked, “You gotta understand that without the council and mayor approval…There’s nothing we can do.”

Some of the disagreement comes from who is responsible for covering the cost of these animals. Frazer said that the city of LaFayette has argued that because they do not meet the population requirement, it is the onus of Chambers County to pay. The contract does allow LaFayette to use some of the allotted eight kennels the county is paying for, but only if the county is not using them. If the county kennels are full, any needed space must be paid for by LaFayette. Frazer said the county-allotted kennels are almost always in use. 

Council members asked Vines why the issue was not brought before the council. 

“It’s been going on since May. We would have taken care of May,” said council member Michael Ellis. “Time and time again, we keep getting blindsided, by you having a meeting with people and not bringing it before the full council.”

Vines said he did meet with the CHS twice. However, he did not bring it to the council because he said, “We had to wait on the attorney.” 

Ellis and Mangram said because the issue had not been presented to the council, they would only pay the $45 per animal rate for the current bill. 

“If y’all are willing to pay that amount, we’ll take it, but we cannot go forward under this agreement, it’s going to cost more,” Frazer argued. “Our cost runs $28 per day per animal; the $137.50 is significantly below that amount. Every animal that comes into our gate costs us $175…We have to keep these animals for 14 days before we can do much with them.”

Council member Tammie Williams made a motion that the council pay the $137.50 and sign the contract at that price going forward. However, the motion received no second and died on the floor. Terry Mangram followed that with a motion saying they pay the $45 per animal for the 32 animals and sign the contract with the increased price going forward. That motion passed with one vote against by Williams. 

Frazer told VT-N after the meeting that he is waiting on the finalized contract and he will present it for approval to both the CHS board and LaFayette city council. He expects the new contract to be $28 per day/per animal for a 14-day stay.