Council approves interlocal animal‑control agreement with Comal County

A majority of the Bulverde City Council approved an interlocal cooperation agreement with Comal County to provide animal‑control services, council members said.

The agreement, introduced under agenda item 3(b), removes per‑animal boarding charges that appeared in a prior contract and raises the overall contracted amount, according to city staff. "They've taken out the per animal charges that they had in the previous contract," the police chief said while summarizing the changes.

Council members asked how fines and citations will be handled and whether county procedures will override city ordinances in parks and other city property. Staff told the council that county rules would govern matters explicitly covered in the interlocal but that the city retains authority to enforce its own ordinances where the county order does not apply. Staff also said rabies and ‘‘at‑large’’ citations can be handled by the county through the justice‑of‑the‑peace process.

The motion to approve the agreement was made by a councilmember and seconded on the record; council passed the motion by voice vote. Staff said they will continue to provide monthly billing details and a breakdown of calls for service to help council track costs and usage. Staff also said they can provide records of the number of animal pickups and any associated shelter fees if council requests them.

The council’s approval directs staff to finalize the interlocal and continue coordinating with Comal County on dispatch procedures, reporting and monthly invoices. No dollar figure for the new multi‑year contract was read into the record during the presentation other than a general statement that the contracted amount is higher than in previous years and that some historic per‑animal charges (previously cited in the discussion as approximately $210) were removed.