Wilson County committee backs purchase of Road Commission building, advances $4.2M shelter plan

Wilson Countyanimal control staff and a consultant presented conceptual plans and cost estimates for a new animal shelter and the committee approved buying a Road Commission building for $1,500,000 to host the project.

The discussion matters because the county's existing animal control facility is more than two decades old, routinely operates at or above capacity, and county staff say the building does not meet current animal-care design and ventilation standards. Committee members advanced a plan that would fund design and preliminary work and take the project to bid, with a preliminary project estimate of about $4.2 million for the larger option (not including the $1.5 million purchase price).

Director Steve Gatlin, animal control director, told the committee that the current shelter is about 23 years old and routinely houses more animals than the layout was intended to handle. "It is time for a new shelter," Gatlin said, noting an average census of about 25.5 dogs and 30 dogs in the facility on the day of the presentation. Gatlin described recent operational improvements—expanded volunteer hours, behavior modification programs and veterinary support—and said staff had identified a Road Commission property the department believes could be adapted or expanded to meet modern standards.

Consultant Scott Learned of Design Marketing Incorporated presented two conceptual building options and a program-level cost estimate. Learned described design priorities that include isolatable animal spaces, improved HVAC and dehumidification, modular stainless-steel kennel systems, flushable mop sinks and sound- and odor-control measures. "An animal care facility is a very tough building," Learned said, explaining the need for durable finishes, mechanical systems sized for dehumidification and separate ventilation zones for animal and public areas.

Learned's budget figures to renovate the existing building and construct the larger option included roughly $2.9 million for 6,300 square feet of new construction plus about $616,000 of work on the existing building and roughly $200,000 for equipment; he summarized the assembled larger-scheme estimate as about $4.2 million, plus or minus 15 percent. He said a smaller option (about 4,400 square feet of new construction) would lower the construction-plus-renovation estimate to roughly $3.3 million, plus or minus a similar contingency. Learned cited recent municipal projects in other states with per-square-foot costs in the $430to$500 range and warned of recent volatility in construction pricing.

Committee members and staff discussed funding approaches. County staff and the consultant said the project could be paid from available capital-project balances or financed with a short capital outlay note; staff estimated capital-project balances in the county's accounts could cover at least part of the total. Gatlin and others proposed purchasing the Road Commission building separately (the purchase price discussed at the meeting was $1,500,000) and then advancing design and bidding for the building program.

After discussion, a committee motion to purchase the Road Commission property for $1,500,000 from capital projects was made and approved by voice vote. The transcript records the committee chair calling for the vote and participants responding "Aye; Aye," but no roll-call votes were recorded in the minutes supplied. The committee also directed staff to return with a more detailed cost breakdown separating renovation and new-construction costs and to refine professional-fee and preconstruction-service estimates so the budget committee can consider a recommendation at its March budgeting meeting.

The committee scheduled a follow-up working session for February 20 at 5:00 p.m. for further review of detailed numbers and to prepare materials to present to the county budget committee.

Notes and limitations: all cost figures cited are program-level estimates presented by the consultant and described by county staff; Learned emphasized a plus-or-minus 15 percent contingency on the current $4.2 million figure and said a firm construction price will require a formal bid or preconstruction contractor estimating. The transcript supplied does not include a roll-call vote for the purchase; the approval is recorded as a voice vote in the meeting transcript.