MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Commissioners met with representatives from the Knox County Humane Society on Thursday afternoon to discuss the current situation at the cat shelter on Columbus Road. The commissioners presented their concerns to humane society representatives David Guffey, Jerry Clayton and Janice Clayton and a dialogue between the two parties commenced.

“I think the position I’ve arrived at is: I’m not here to try to tell the humane society how to run the cat shelter,” said Commissioner Allen Stockberger. “However, I am elected by the people of Knox County and I feel a responsibility to them in certain areas, particularly being a responsible steward of their tax dollars.” Stockberger continued, saying that because the cat shelter was funded by tax dollars, he expected taxpayers to have a place to take stray or unwanted cats.

Stockberger also addressed the issue of feline infectious peritonitis, which the commissioners discussed in a meeting with Guffey on Aug. 18. Janice responded to Stockberger’s concern and said that after the FIP outbreak which closed the cat shelter for several months last fall, there have been very few cases of FIP at the shelter. “It’s basically gone,” said Janice, “it’s minimal.”

The commissioners asked about the shelter and whether it was currently open, after a sign was posted on the shelter door that stated that the humane society was not accepting any animals. Janice responded and said that the shelter was currently open and accepting cats, but that even when someone comes in to drop off an unwanted animal, she tries to convince people to take an alternate avenue, such as spaying or neutering the animal and keeping it themselves.

There was further discussion about the role of the humane society and cat shelter in the community, and Janice stated that the humane society would take in unwanted or sick animals that the owners could not support, but that this was not ideal.

Stockberger said that the commissioners were mandated to care for dogs in the county, and although the board did not have a specific duty to care for cats and other animals, the commissioners had a strong desire to work with the humane society and cat shelter. Also, Stockberger explained that the reason the commissioners made a decision to withhold money from the humane society was to start a dialogue with the humane society and the cat shelter.

Jerry responded to Stockberger’s statement and said that the two groups could have had additional dialogue before issues with the cat shelter were made public.

Commissioner Bob Wise said that he had recently heard several complaints from local residents regarding the cat shelter. Guffey asked Wise if these residents had given any feedback as to what they would like to see happen at the facility. Wise responded and said that people had told him that they want a place to take cats and also that certain persons think that the shelter is disease-ridden.

The meeting drew to a close on amicable terms, and Guffey also announced that the cat shelter is planning an adopt-a-thon from September 19 through September 20.

Also during the course of afternoon meetings, the commissioners:

•Unanimously approved the Kokosing Plantation subdivision road, located south of Mount Vernon on Ohio 586 be turned over to Pleasant Township. Pleasant Township Trustee Jim Hughes was present and said that the trustees still had a reservation about the road to the subdivision being too close to the top of a hill and that this would lead to safety issues. However, Hughes also admitted that the plan had been approved at the state level.

•Held an informational meeting with Justin Smith on the issue of homelessness in the county. Teresa Bemiller, candidate for commissioner who was also present for the meeting, advised Smith to meet representatives of the Knox County Emergency Needs Coalition to garner more support for his cause of opening a homeless shelter in the community.