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Morton approves renewal with county animal control; small fee increase noted
Summary
The Village of Morton approved Resolution 20-26 to renew an annual agreement with Tazewell County for animal rabies-control services. The police chief described the service as responsive and recommended public calls go to the nonemergency line for routine animal issues.
The Village of Morton Board of Trustees voted to approve Resolution 20-26, authorizing an annual agreement with Tazewell County for animal rabies-control services.
The measure, introduced by the chief of police, was presented as the regular renewal of the village’s contract with Tazewell County animal control. The chief told trustees the vendor has been “very responsive” and that contracting for animal-control services reduces officers’ time spent transporting and sheltering animals. He said there is a modest fee increase in the renewal and that the arrangement was originally written as a five-year cost-control arrangement even though it is renewed annually.
Why it matters: The contract shifts routine animal-handling duties away from uniformed officers and formalizes emergency-response expectations with county animal-control staff, which the police chief and trustees said frees officers to respond to other public-safety duties.
Trustee questions during the discussion focused on which animals the county will pick up in different circumstances and how the village should direct residents to request service. The police chief clarified that county staff will respond to domesticated animals that are running at large or aggressive and will handle sick or injured wild animals. He said the county does not respond to healthy wild animals in residential settings and that the village retains a separate service for non-emergency wildlife removal.
The chief told trustees that residents should call the village nonemergency dispatch line for most animal issues; if an animal is aggressive or a person has been bitten, 911 is appropriate. A trustee also asked that a gender-specific pronoun in paragraph 12 of the contract be made gender-neutral; staff agreed to request that revision from the county.
The motion carried on a roll call of trustees present.
Ending: Trustees approved the renewal and asked staff to add clearer contact instructions to the village website so residents can find the correct phone number for animal-control requests.
