Fairbanks animal shelter 95% design received; funding remains in ‘beyond years,’ commission told

The Fairbanks North Star Borough received a 95% design for the proposed animal shelter replacement late last week, but borough and commission officials said on May 5 that there is no construction funding scheduled in the near term and the project is listed in the capital improvement program’s “beyond years.”

Commissioners said the delay and a lack of posted responses to earlier public questions has left them uncertain about design details such as cat-kennel sizing, ventilation and humidification; commissioners asked administration staff to provide answers and suggested the commission consider taking a formal position supporting the project.

At the Animal Control Commission meeting, Sandra Hill, the borough’s animal control manager, said the consultant team (Bettisworth North and Indigo Hammond) presented the 65% design at a March joint meeting with the Assembly and later delivered the 95% design. “We just received it,” Hill said, and…