New information on the new dog pound and the Friends of the Highland County Dog Pound was revealed at Wednesday’s weekly meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners.

Commission president Terry Britton said that the new dog pound is going to be a “really nice” facility for the dogs and the community, also saying they’re “getting close” and were hoping to get it opened “very, very soon.”

Commissioner Dave Daniels said they are down to getting punch list items for the facility. He said there is still a “little bit” of equipment left to go from their caging vendor that needs to be finished, as well as the dog bath and dog warden station. He said his hope is that in the next 30 to 45 days they will be able to have Ted McReynolds, a representative for the Friends of the Highland County Dog Pound, at a weekly meeting take a look at the facility to see what it’s like.

McReynolds also gave an update on the Friends of the Highland County Dog Pound. He said that last year’s contributions from citizens of the county totaled $10,917. He also said that coverage for veterinary bills and medicine was $5,600, donations for transport costs were $1,700 and rescue cost-sharing was $3,466.

McReynolds also said that a citizen last year suggested that the new dog pound should have a “proper” wash tub for the dogs because they come in “pretty messy.” He said the organization applied for a grant from the South Central Power Foundation through its Round Up Grant Program to help obtain the tub. Because of that, he said he wanted to deliver a check of $2,770 to cover the county’s part of the contribution for that wash tub, which he presented to the board Wednesday.

“We want to thank you, especially, because you’re kind of the head of the Friends group and, you know, what you’ve done for, and the whole group, obviously, but you’re kind of the spokesperson for them, but what you’ve done for the county and the dog population in Highland County, we really appreciate all your efforts,” Britton said.

In other news, Britton said that Hillsboro Municipal Court Judge William Randolph visited with the commissioners to discuss the possibility of getting a security guard for the court. He said he wanted to reiterate that county would only be paying 40 percent of the guard’s salary, and that person would have no benefits. The commissioners moved to approve the parameters on its end for the hiring of the security guard.

Greenfield City Manager Todd Wilkin was also in attendance and gave new information on the Elliott Hotel demolition. He said that around the next three weeks, the property will be on the ground as well as seeded and strawed.

He said that following questions about the project needing to be rebid, the village talked to the Environmental Protection Agency, which said they needed to have a licensed abatement contractor on site. Wilkin said that the original company that got the bid wasn’t abatement licensed. He said the original company recommended the village go with Evans Landscaping. Wilkin said the village ended up using that Evans, following passing the motion in an emergency meeting.

The board of commissioners also celebrated National FFA Week during the morning’s meeting.

“National FFA Week and agriculture in Highland County is very important,” Britton said. “It’s the number one business in Highland County and we need young people just like you, all, you know, stepping forward and being leaders in the community. Hopefully, if you do go to college, you’ll come back and participate in making Highland County a better place to live, and so we wish all of you the best too, by the way… It teaches you a lot of life skills and so it’s a good program.”

Britton also said the new sales tax receipts for February were received, totaling $809,257. The receipts were $44,501.34 better than the same time last year.

“That’s a good thing for the economy, I guess,” Britton said. “So, we just hope it keeps going.”

Also, the board announced that next week’s meeting on Wednesday, March 1 will not start until 1 p.m.

The board of commissioners also approved an authorization to execute an RPHF Solid Waste District Invoice from the Revolving Loan Fund.

In other news, there was one contract approved by the board:

* Contract 20 is between the board of commissioners and Canon Solutions for a Master Sales and Services Agreement Addendum.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.