Council member Mike Hayes sought to suspend the rules to allow reconsideration of the SVAS proposal that the council rejected 3-4 with the help of his dissenting vote on Jan. 23.

“We’re putting out a request for a new proposal when we had one that was acceptable and met all the criteria, and now we’re back revisiting something that, I feel, is going to be more costly to the city,” Hayes said. “This isn’t a good way to go when we had a good proposal originally.”

Council member Mike Blessum noted the large amount of work conducted by staff in a short time to get a new request for proposals (RFP) before the council so it can begin advertising.

“I’m a little bit frustrated that we don’t seem to be able to make a decision and then stick by it,” he said. “I would urge my colleagues to stay the course. Get this work done. Let’s get the RFP out and get the answers back, and then we look at the options.”

Mark Jantzer

He added the proposed RFP creates options to split pound services among shelters willing to take only certain animals, allowing more entities to bid.

A motion to approve and advertise the new RFP failed 3-4, with Hayes, Mayor Mark Jantzer, Lisa Olson and Paul Pitner dissenting.

A city rule requires that reconsideration of a previous motion occur no later than an immediately subsequent meeting, and the council already had two meetings before last Tuesday’s meeting. Hayes sought to suspend the rule, which Blessum argued was not an option.

There was a question about legality because the ordinance discusses rule amendments but lacks mention of rule suspension. Mayor Mark Jantzer eventually ruled there is a lack of ability to suspend, closing out that argument but raising interest by Blessum in a future update to ordinance language to better spell out the rules.

Jantzer also voiced his frustration.

“We’re going to go through this whole process and spend more money when, in fact, the constant beat of the drum is we need to cut expenses. And so, I’m not terribly pleased with where this thing has ended up,” he said.

“Right now, we have a situation that is worse than what we had a few weeks ago,” Olson added. She moved to direct staff to work with SVAS to determine if its previous proposal remains available. Blessum objected on the grounds it would be a reconsideration.

City Attorney Stefanie Stalheim suggested if SVAS offered some changes to its proposal, the council might not see that as a true reconsideration. Olson said she wants to know if SVAS still stands by its proposal with no changes.

Again, Jantzer ruled, saying Olson’s motion would be a reconsideration.

Hayes moved to reconsider the meeting’s earlier vote to reject the new RFP. He said he wants to keep movement going toward a future pound agreement and believes SVAS is likely to participate in the new proposal round. The motion to reconsider, as well as the vote to advertise for proposals, passed 6-1, with dissent from Pitner.

During this interim as the police department operates without a pound contract, the city and SVAS have been working to address animals in city custody. The Ward County Commission also approved leasing a highway department building to the city to house up to 12 dogs from March through August.