By Rebecca J. Barnabi
For Augusta Free Press
VERONA — In a meeting between Augusta County and the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro Friday morning, the three localities voted for the county to serve as fiscal agent of the Shenandoah Valley Animal Services Center effective July 1.
The city of Waynesboro served as the shelter’s fiscal agent since its opening in 2011 in Lyndhurst. Mike Hamp, Waynesboro city manager, said the change in leadership for the shelter is a “breath of fresh air.”
“That means two things,” Hamp said of the change in fiscal agent.
Waynesboro will transfer all information regarding accounting, paying bills, providing IT, making payroll and providing internal support to the county. However, the bigger consideration, Hamp said, is that Augusta County Administrator Timothy Fitzgerald and staff will provide primary supervision of the shelter.
“Waynesboro will be involved by retaining a position on the owner board,” Hamp said.
The shelter will continue to serve as the municipal animal shelter for the three localities, and Waynesboro will make financial contributions to the shelter’s operation.
“So, we’re both an owner and a consumer of those services,” Hamp said of the shelter’s purpose for taking in stray dogs in the River City.
According to Hamp, Friday’s meeting also resulted in a revised organizational chart for the shelter’s staff.
“We made some compensation adjustments,” Hamp said.
Next week, the position of shelter manager will be advertised with a salary of $55,000-56,000 per year. The position previously was paid in the mid to upper $30,000 a year. Hamp said that Waynesboro never had trouble with attracting qualified candidates for the position.
“So, the hope would be that you could attract and retain [a qualified candidate],” he said.
Reclassified under the county’s payroll system, two new positions will also be created at the shelter: a full-time operations manager and a part-time outreach coordinator.
“We think that the improvements to staffing will be achieved two-fold,” Hamp said. With a higher salary for the shelter manager position and two new positions, the hope is that the shelter will be more adequately staffed not only to meet the needs of the animals it helps, but also the needs of the community.
Hamp said that staff dedicate so much time to caring for the animals that other duties do not receive as much attention.
“I think that part of the challenge is that most folks measure the success of the shelter — on the positive outcomes for animals,” Hamp said. And Waynesboro is proud of the shelter’s 97 percent save rate.
However, the cities of Waynesboro and Staunton and Augusta County are also concerned about customer service, interaction with animal control and other necessary services provided by the shelter. Additional staff will enable current staff to fulfill goals.
Hamp said that the next step is to advertise for and recruit a shelter manager, as well as hire for the two new positions. Then he and Fitzgerald will discuss the details of switching fiscal agencies. The owners will meet again on March 15.
Improvements, Hamp said, will not happen overnight, but they will happen.
“We think we’re headed in the right direction,” Hamp said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
