Staff: 65% design for new Fairbanks animal shelter complete; public presentations planned in March

Sandra Hill, Animal Control Manager for the Fairbanks North Star Borough, told the commission on Feb. 3 that the animal-shelter replacement project has reached a 65% design milestone and that design consultants will present the plan to elected officials and the public in March.

Hill said Buttersworth and Indigo Hammond (design consultants) will present the 65% plans to the assembly and the commission; tentative dates mentioned in the meeting were March 6 for the assembly presentation and March 7 for an open house at the Carlson Center, though Hill and the clerk cautioned that the March 6 date was not yet set in stone and would be finalized by the clerk’s office and administration.

Commissioners asked whether the public would be allowed to ask questions at the Carlson Center open house; staff said there would be a method for questions, either written or verbal, and that finalized times and details would be posted on the borough and commission websites and advertised on Facebook.

A commissioner who had reviewed the 65% design said she had not seen significant changes during the last review cycle and recommended commissioners attend the presentation in person. Hill said staff would coordinate website postings and social-media notices once dates and times were finalized.

Commissioners did not take formal action on the project at the Feb. 3 meeting; the discussion functioned as an operational update and scheduling notice for the upcoming presentations.