County Sheriff's Office dogs for new building | News

At the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners meeting on May 20, the Sheriff's Office presented its pitch for a new Animal Protective Services adoption center. The project is currently part of the county's next capital improvement plan, but commissioners question whether the additional building is an immediate need.

“Is this an immediate need? Absolutely,” shelter director Belinda Musgrove told commissioners. “The building we are in now was built over 20 years ago and was supposed to last 15 years. »

The current shelter includes a small hall, a total of 273 spaces to house the animals and some outdoor caged spaces. Musgrove told commissioners that current facilities have become too large, overcrowded and overused.

She said the building was originally used for rabies control, not live releases, and it had served them well, but now they need more space. Animals are being exposed to disease without any proper means of quarantine because the facility is at capacity, she said.

“You can’t continue at this capacity and keep the release rates live,” she said.

The proposed project, if approved and constructed, will increase spaces to house animals, add an enclosed Salliport to the current facility and increase overall space for staff. The proposed project will increase the current facility from 9,640 square feet to 10,736 square feet.

Shelter Planners, specializing in animal shelter solutions, conducted and completed a needs assessment study on the current Animal Protective Services (APS) staff building in November 2023. The objective of the study is to build a safe and secure facility for animals, employees, volunteers and visitors.

The evaluation has seven main functions for the proposed project:

• Welcoming the public and selling essential products for adopted animals.
• Administrative areas including private offices for staff.
• Public education and training facilities.
• Reception of animals, including examination and grooming duties.
• Animal kennels for exhibiting adoptable animals.
• Kennels for stray animals.
• Kennels for animals for quarantine and routine observation.

Bill Daggett, founder of Shelter Planners, in reviewing the assessment with commissioners, said there were “overwhelming” problems with the current shelter.

The assessment explains that APS faces significant challenges due to the county's rapid growth which, “over time, will reduce the existing shelter's ability to provide humane care to the animals it houses.”

Daggett said a new facility would be built to support the county's population growth over the next 20 years and allow the APS shelter to maintain a live release rate of approximately 90 percent, which is within the threshold of a no-kill shelter designation.

“If we don't improve the facilities, capacity will continue to decline and eventually fall below minimums in less than 20 years,” Daggett said.

The proposed adoption center would be a separate new building next to the existing shelter and would add 104 housing spaces, for a total of 377. Of the 104 additional spaces, 48 ​​spaces would be dog kennels and 56 would be designated spaces to cats.

Daggett said his biggest concern is the safety of staff, volunteers, animals and visitors because the existing facility only has one lobby.

He explained that having only one place for reception, adoption and recovery, namely the lobby, can create emotional distress between the people who drop off an animal and those who adopt it. . Sick animals can also transmit diseases to healthy, adoptable animals in this setting. he added.

“Normally this problem is overcome by two different lobbies where these functions can be separated,” Daggett said.

The proposed project retains the lobby within the existing shelter, possibly adding a Sallyport. A Sallyport is a controlled, secure, gated entrance with walls and a door for entry and exit, similar to the infrastructure of a garage.

The current shelter will also house kennels to accommodate stray animals, quarantine them and routinely observe them. The proposed project also includes a multi-purpose room in the new adoption center.

If built, the featured shelter would cost between $4.5 million and $5 million to construct, depending on what commissioners decide to approve.

Shelter Planners projects the total construction cost to be between $5,368,000 and $5,904,800. Daggett said the estimated cost is based on similarly sized shelter projects recently tendered elsewhere.

“For planning purposes, a 10% contingency reserve should be added to cover contingencies of on-site work, which would increase the projected range from $5,904,800 to $6,495,280,” the assessment notes.

Animal adoption centers have building codes and criteria that must be met, Daggett said. He explained that this is why the core of the facility can cost more than other community buildings.

The county, Daggett said, could reduce the cost by $500,000 or more by reducing overall capacity by 30 percent. Commissioners could also phase the project by building a “base” facility now and adding to it in the future.

“This is an approach we see often and gives you all the flexibility. I think there will be no negative effect on the shelter if it is reduced somewhat,” Daggett told commissioners.

He added that it would likely take a year of planning for the entire project before construction could begin. The phased approach will not disrupt APS operations, he added.

Construction costs do not include additional facilities, such as telephones, security systems, intercom systems, cameras and video systems, and any specialized access systems. The assessment indicates that these elements could be included in the overall project budget during the design phase.

Although the proposed center is expected to meet the needs of ACP for the next 20 years, the assessment indicates that the impacts of population growth will be continually reviewed to determine whether the additional space continues to meet the county's needs.

Musgrove said she was shocked by the project's high price tag. Although the project may be expensive, she said it is necessary to ensure the safety of volunteers, staff and animals.

County Manager Steve Stone said the project is part of the capital improvement plan for next year. He said staff is recommending debt financing now to pay for the entire facility.

With project costs constantly fluctuating, Stone warned commissioners that cutting the project now could increase the cost of completing it later.

Commissioners shared their support for APS, but some were hesitant to approve the project because of the proposed costs. The project was discussed but no vote or action was taken.

The board must approve the county budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year by July 1. If the proposed budget is approved, the APS project will remain in the capital improvement plan for next year.