Cowlitz County's sheriff told commissioners Monday that the city of Longview will lead a multijurisdictional request for proposals for animal control and animal sheltering services, and that four cities and the county are joining the effort while the city of Kalama had not yet signed on.

"Longview is taking the lead on this and just in the process of getting all the entities to sign on board and then, work towards issuing an RFP on that," the sheriff said in the meeting. He described two distinct sections of the solicitation: animal sheltering and animal control.

The sheriff told commissioners that all participating jurisdictions except Kalama had been involved in preliminary meetings and that staff expected the interlocal agreement (ILA) to be signed by those entities that choose to participate. "Whoever agrees to sign on, they'll go forward then with a RFP," he said.

Commissioners and the sheriff agreed the joint procurement could streamline services across jurisdictions and allow vendors to propose consolidated solutions for sheltering and field enforcement. No final vendor selection or contract award was made during the meeting; Longview will proceed as the lead on the procurement process and bring results to participating jurisdictions for consideration.