Trish Aldred Roehm has worked with animals in need of care for decades. In 2009, she started the Southern Indiana Animal Rescue. The organization works with local shelters, including Jeffersonville, which serves surrounding cities and towns with services under an interlocal agreement.
But she’s concerned about what will happen to animals in Clarksville after Jeffersonville cut the town off last week for failure to sign a new agreement.
She said the town already has a large issue with stray animals; that would be compounded if they have no shelter service.
“It’s concerning because I’m afraid the animals will die if they have no place to go,” she said.
Clarksville officials will meet Tuesday to discuss the interlocal agreement, days after Jeffersonville announced it was stopping services to its neighbor.
The Jeffersonville Animal Shelter posted a notice on social media last week that as of Friday, it would no longer accept found or owner-surrender animals or trap-neuter-release cats from Clarksville. It would also no longer give spay and neuter vouchers to Clarksville residents.
The move came the day after the Clarksville Town Council failed to sign an agreement for services with the shelter, despite Jeffersonville Mayor Mike Moore recently giving the town that deadline.
“Please keep in mind that this decision was made by the Town of Clarksville,” the statement from Jeffersonville reads. “We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.”
Jeffersonville’s message came the day after Clarksville’s regular meeting last week, which had the interlocal agreement on the agenda. Town Manager Kevin Baity told the council he wasn’t asking for action from them that night “but just wanted to bring it back to your attention that we continue to work on trying to find a resolution to this interlocal agreement.”
The lead up
The back and forth on the proposed agreement started last year, when Jeffersonville sent out the new document to municipalities it provides shelter services to. It included a raise in costs that Moore said hadn’t changed in a decade. The shelter has served Borden, Charlestown, Clarksville, Sellersburg, Utica and areas Clark County is responsible for.
The total cost to operate the shelter was listed in the new agreement at $860,000. Clarksville’s new total would be 17% of that cost.
But town officials, and some in other municipalities, including Charlestown Mayor Treva Hodges, questioned the numbers.
Hodges had concerns about the steep increase when she learned of it last spring.
Hodges talked with other municipalities and said her Charlestown colleagues pulled information on Jeffersonville animal services from Indiana Gateway, Indiana’s government transparency website. Hodges said the document they pulled showed a budget very close to $860,000.
The information from the transparency website showed costs in the overall budget that would cover animal control officers for Jeffersonville. Each municipality is responsible for their own animal control officers.
Hodges met with representatives from Clarksville and Jeffersonville and said the city agreed to take out that cost. She learned in August the total was now closer to $715,000.
The revised agreement increased costs for each locality incrementally over three years. Ultimately, Clarksville would land at up to $121,602 in the third year.
Clarksville officials said in a statement last week that they still had concerns about the numbers and transparency even after the new agreement. The current agreement does not include how much Jeffersonville will pay or the total cost to operate the shelter. Clarksville officials also mentioned the need for a board to oversee finances and operations when an interlocal agreement is in place.
“Clarksville desires to work towards a solution that is fair and equitable to its residents and to all residents of Clark County,” according to the statement. “However, when communication and rules are dictated by one entity without input from others, then a partnership no longer exists.”
Earlier this month, the Jeffersonville shelter director attended a Clarksville council work session to answer questions. Moore said she was treated with disrespect, and the following day, he gave town officials an ultimatum.
“Clarksville, I'm talking to you,” Moore said in the recorded meeting. “If you do not pass this and you join this interlocal agreement at your next meeting, we are rescinding the offer of the interlocal agreement, and you are welcome to start your own animal shelter.
“I'm tired of the political pettiness and you want to get up there and grandstand and ask why you haven't been given information. You’re an embarrassment. The information was given to you seven months ago.”
Moore also said Jeffersonville has incurred extra costs over the past decade and several years ago took on a $2.4 million renovation, which they did not pass on to the municipalities.
Ken Conklin, who was until recently a spokesperson for Clarksville, told LPM News Friday that town officials had been “working in good faith with Jeffersonville for months.”
Moore said he believed the city had answered Clarksville’s questions at the July meeting and was surprised when a reporter called him in December asking about it.
The Charlestown City Council will meet in early February. Moore has also given them, and Borden, until their next regular meeting to sign.
The issue has garnered attention online, with multiple people saying they plan to attend Clarksville’s special meeting Tuesday. Some people blame Clarksville for not signing the agreement, while others put the onus on Jeffersonville.
Clarksville resident Andrea Braden will be there with her husband, who volunteers five days a week at the Jeffersonville shelter.
“My main concern is the animals,” Braden said, adding that “I know how well taken care of the animals are and I know the staff and volunteers are very dedicated, loving, passionate people and that their concern is strictly for the animals.”
She said she understands the need to be fiscally responsible but said this first came up last year. She wishes Clarksville had a backup plan.
“If you decided not to do this, which is what they sound like they're leaning toward at the time, then why did you not have a plan in place of where people could take these animals and take care of them?”
Roehm, who runs the rescue, is going to the meeting early, and rallying with other animal advocates to push the council to take action.
“We just want to encourage [the Clarksville Town Council] to do the right thing,” she said, hoping they will vote to rejoin. “And they’re getting a lot for their money. They have the best shelter. They have the best care.”
“I wouldn’t want to live in a community that doesn’t care for its animals and got an opportunity to fix the mistake they’ve made," Jeffersonville Mayor Mike Moore said. “Let’s see if they do it Tuesday.”
He said he’ll discuss whatever happens at that meeting with his own staff Wednesday and go from there. But he said even though the city has cut Clarksville off without an agreement, he’s not going to turn away people from the shelter right now.
“I'm not going to jeopardize the health or the population of dogs and cats in Clarksville,” he said, adding, “And in the meantime, I'm allowing a little bit of a grace window to continue to help.”
This is not the first time municipalities have disagreed over animal services. The New Albany City Council voted to end an agreement with Floyd County government in 2023 after years of dispute. They’ve since each managed their own animal services.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.