The Dalles City Council approved giving $25,000 to Central Oregon Animal Friends to help that group’s proposed merger with Home At Last Humane Society to move forward. The organization that runs two animal shelters in the Madras area would take over the Home At Last facility in The Dalles under a merger City Manager Julie Krueger told the Council was signed on Friday. Mayor Steve Lawrence and other City and Wasco County officials have been involved in discussions to find a solution to Home At Last’s fiscal problems over the last couple of months, and he believes the merger was the best option for the community. The City’s contribution is dependent on a match by Wasco County, and would be used to recreate an appropriate reserve for the shelter. In other business, the Council approved agreements with TacAero as fixed base operator and Chuck Covert for management at the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport, which also must go through the Klickitat County Commission. And a five-year enterprise zone agreement with Bearing Point Holdings, which plans to construct a Holiday Inn Express on West 6th Street, was also approved and now goes to the Wasco County Commission.