Contract given to vet for dog-kennel work

By Tim Yovich

Work is approved on a water tank in Champion and for sanitary sewers in Liberty.

WARREN – A six-month contract was awarded to a Girard veterinarian to spay, neuter and give a rabies vaccination to dogs adopted at the Trumbull County dog kennel.

This is the first time the county has made the effort to reduce the number of stray dogs in the county through medical procedures.

Commissioner Daniel Polivka said the agreement, with Dr. Suzanne M. Wilcox’s Spay and Neuter Clinic on South State Street, is designed not only to reduce the number of dogs but to make them less violent and more adoptable.

Wilcox will be paid $60 for each animal spayed and neutered, will administer a one-year rabies vaccination and provide a certification that the rabies shot has been given along with the rabies tag.

The fee will be paid by the new owner, explained Robert Campana, dog warden.

Campana said the total fee to adopt a dog is $94 if it’s more than 3 months old and $84 for one under 3 months.

No matter the age, the new owner pays $14 for the license and $60 for spaying or neutering. An additional $20 fee is charged to have boarded the older dogs and $10 for those under 3 months.

The owner takes the dog to Wilcox, who treats the animal. The receipt is returned to the kennel, and the veterinarian is paid, the dog warden said.

The kennel adopted out or sold 324 dogs in 2007. That number is 111 for the first three months of this year.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners gave their approval to begin construction of a $1.3 million water storage tank on the west side of Mahoning Avenue just north of Champion High School.

Rex Fee, director of the county sanitary engineer’s office, said the tank will hold about 500,000 gallons of water and will be substantially completed by July 31.

It is designed to increase water pressure, improve fire protection and be a source of water when lines are constructed into Bristol Township, the eastern portion of Champion and part of Bazetta Township.

The project, Fee explained, is being funded mostly through water rates.

The contractor is Chicago Bridge and Iron Constructors Inc. of Sewickly, Pa., and the electrical work will be done by B&J Electric of Poland Inc. of North Lima.

In addition, commissioners gave approval for the construction of a $631,000 sanitary sewer line in Liberty Township.

The project scheduled for completion in early June will allow for the replacement of residential septic tank systems on March, Vienna and Fifth avenues, Overbrook Drive, Shady Road and portions of state Route 304.

Property owners will pay $95.90 per front footage for the line, although this will be decreased because the bid by Rudzik Excavating of Struthers was lower than the engineer’s estimated cost.

yovich@vindy.com