LOCKPORT — A town councilman said Monday that the Niagara County SPCA has offered to take the town’s stray animals at the current price for the next three years if the town will give it a new contract.

Councilman Mark C. Crocker said at a Town Board work session that he favors such a deal.

“It sounds like a good operation, and I’d like to get back to them if they’re not going to have a price increase,” Crocker said.

But Supervisor Marc R. Smith said Crocker’s statement was premature.

“We’re in the process of bidding that out,” Smith said.

Town Attorney Daniel E. Seaman said that Wednesday is the deadline for prospective keepers of stray animals to submit proposals.

Crocker said Neil E. Nolf, acting director of the Niagara County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told him that the agency would agree not to raise its prices for 2010-12.

The town currently pays the SPCA $811.92 per month, plus $75 for after-hours calls initiated by the town supervisor or a police agency to deal with an uninjured stray that is causing problems.

The Eastern Niagara Animal Welfare Alliance has expressed interest in taking over the housing of strays. It plans to construct a shelter in Wrights Corners. However, the City of Lockport decided last month to stick with the SPCA.

In other matters, the board decided to make a $2,500 donation to the History Center of Niagara to be a co-sponsor of next July’s “Old Home Week” promotion.

The board also hired Donna Johnston, a member of the town Recreation Commission, to prepare the town newsletter. Johnston will publish three issues for annual salary of $1,000.

Councilwoman Cheryl A. Antkowiak said that Johnston prepared most of the last issue as a volunteer and that it required a lot of work.

Smith said, “We were investing in excess of 40 work hours to put out this newsletter.”