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 borough staff will meet with Public Works after the budget process to review the 95% plans.

Commissioners pressed for clarity. Commissioner Sherman said members and members of the public were told questions from the March 20 joint meeting and an April 21 open house would be answered publicly; she said she has not seen those answers posted and asked administration to follow up. “They assured us they would get back to us in a month or less and it's been a little longer,” Sherman said.

Clerk staff explained where the project sits in the borough’s capital plan. The clerk told commissioners that the animal shelter replacement project is currently in the KIP (capital improvement program) “beyond years,” and that “there is no funding scheduled for this in the near future, in the next year or two.” The clerk said the borough projects capital needs several years out and that “beyond years” covers projects not projected in the next 5–10 years or longer.

Commissioners asked who holds authority to release the 95% design and to post answers to public questions; Hill said administration would be the party to release designs and that project scheduling and funding decisions rest with the Assembly. Commissioner Bethune and others urged staff to press the administration for the promised Q&A postings.

The commission discussed whether to signal support for the shelter and how to proceed if construction funding remains distant. Hill said the borough has reported turnover in the project manager role and that the borough project manager has changed; commissioners asked for the new project manager’s contact information and for the borough to provide the 95% documents to the commission once the administration releases them.

No formal action to fund construction or approve the design occurred at the meeting. Commissioners did request the clerk provide the commission with the KIP resolution and related spreadsheet for reference. The commission also agreed to consider placing a statement of support or other recommendations on a future agenda and discussed the option of requesting a special meeting if members wanted to act sooner than the commission’s regular quarterly schedule.

Why it matters: a new shelter design is a multi‑million dollar capital project that will affect how the borough houses and cares for animals and how the shelter operates for years; the absence of scheduled funding means the replacement may not be built in the near term while current shelter staff continue operations in a facility many commissioners described as in poor condition.

What happens next: borough administration will review the 95% design after the budget process; the clerk will distribute the KIP resolution and spreadsheet to the commission; commissioners may place a statement of support or related item on a future agenda for deliberation.