MOHAVE COUNTY – Mohave County supervisors took no action before adjourning Tuesday’s special board meeting within a few minutes of its start. Future operation of the animal shelter in downtown Kingman was the only issue before the board.
The board voted June 3 to transition the shelter to a county-run facility because the current contract operator, the Lake Havasu City-based Western Arizona Humane Society (WAHS), previously indicated it did not want its contract extended beyond June 30 and no other providers indicated interest in overseeing the shelter. WAHS, however, subsequently expressed interest in running the shelter if the Board of Supervisors would reconsider contract provisions.
To do so Tuesday, the board would first have to approve a motion to reconsider its June 3 action. That motion from Chairman Hildy Angius and seconded by supervisor Gary Watson was defeated by a 3-2 vote. The meeting quickly adjourned without discussion of ongoing or future operation by WAHS.
County Manager Mike Hendrix met with his directors immediately after the board meeting to keep them engaged in all tasks associated with shelter takeover next Monday. He said he is confident his leadership team will successfully transition the shelter to a county-managed facility in less than one week.
“They’re just incredible people and they just get it done,” Hendrix said. “You get a plan together and they carry it out and make it happen.”
Hendrix said it is envisioned that most of the less than a dozen full and part-time shelter workers will be retained in the changeover. The Kingman shelter will remain the focus of extensive attention in coming months because the board has allocated spending up to $2 million to upgrade the facility.
Whether the shelter stays where it is, where it might be relocated and whether it is county or contract operated in the future are questions to be answered going forward.
