Monitor Editor
GREEN COVE SPRINGS— Commissioners approved 4-1 a five-year trap-neuter-vaccinate-and-release program which will cost $75,000 in the current fiscal year, $160,000 next year, $255,000 in 2023-24 and around one-half million dollars each in fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26.
The $75,000 for the current year was already approved in the county’s budget.
Assistant County Manager Troy Nagle told commissioners that the county’s current cat population is estimated at 55,857 including 32,269 community or stray cats. He added that by 2030, there could be over 64,000 cats in the county with nearly 38,000 of those without a home.
Commissioner Betsy Condon voted against the proposal. She said Nagle was only seeking consensus from the board and not a formal vote. She added that she did not want the public to interpret her vote as a $1.5 million appropriation.
Other commissioners said their votes were not to approve the spending, but merely to approve the concept and tell county staff to proceed with planning on the project.
