Volunteers representing Color Country, the nonprofit animal shelter that serves Wayne County, briefed the Bicknell Town Council on Sept. 4 and asked the council to consider including the group in the town's next fiscal-year budget.

Lydia Berggren and Sandy Greenbahn, both identified as volunteers and members of the Color Country board, described services the shelter provides: intake and care for lost, abandoned or disaster-impacted animals; a pet-food bank; low- or no-cost vaccination and spay/neuter clinics; short-term boarding and transfers to partner shelters; and community outreach programs. Berggren said the shelter served “over 550” animals last year and that volunteers and four-and-a-half full-time equivalent staff help run operations.

The presenters said the shelter relies primarily on private donations, grants and fundraisers and that funds are tight. They described recent clinics (the group said it spayed about 25 animals at a prior clinic and provided 29 vaccinations at another) and said a spay/neuter clinic is planned for November. They requested the council consider a budget allocation in the next fiscal year (Bicknell’s fiscal year runs July–July, presenters were told) and offered to provide more information to town staff.

Council members asked about the shelter’s annual budget and sources of revenue. In the public discussion a numeric annual budget figure was stated in the record as "2.95," which the presenters did not fully clarify in the meeting; the transcript does not specify the monetary unit or exact amount. The council invited the presenters to the next board meeting and said they would add the shelter to the town’s list of potential budget requests for the following year.

Why it matters: Color Country is the county’s primary animal shelter and provides low-cost services and emergency support (including transfers and disaster response) that the county lacks capacity to provide directly. A municipal contribution would help sustain services that the presenters said benefit Wayne County residents and visitors.