The Bristol City Council moved to discharge the current Animal Control Facility committee and reconstitute a new panel with a revised scope to pursue regional cooperation and funding. The motion also reclassified non‑elector city employees as liaisons to preserve staff expertise while opening committee membership to additional participants.

The chair said the effort responds to an “unfunded state mandate” requiring facility upgrades and described the current project cost estimate, including acquisition of a Cross Street property, as about $6,500,000. Council members were directed to pursue regional cooperation, which the chair said could unlock a regional cooperation grant that would cover 100% of the project cost excluding the already-acquired building.

During public comment, Cheryl Thibault urged the council to vote no on discharging the existing committee, arguing the current committee had “worked diligently for many years,” secured a site that met updated Connecticut HVAC and sizing requirements and had already issued an RFP and selected an architect. “Disbanding it now … undermines public trust and diminishes transparency,” Thibault said.

Resident Matthew Biden told the council he sympathized with the city’s position but warned about the 2029 deadline and the city’s earlier work: “We put over $5,000,000 in the budget for that building,” he said, and urged the council to keep experienced committee members engaged to meet the statutory timeline.

Following discussion, council members voted to discharge the committee and later reappointed and named members and liaisons to the reconstituted Animal Control Facility Building Committee, including Lindsay Rivers, Luis Lorenzo Ruiz, Frank Stoskie, Nancy Levesque, Lynn Della Bianca and Holly Goodwin, and designated Ray Gersersky (animal control officer), Dave Oakes (facility operations) and Mark Moskowitz (deputy chief) as liaisons.

The council also instructed the reconstituted committee to re-examine regional partnership options and return with proposals. No funding appropriation for construction was adopted at this meeting; council discussion centered on structure and strategy for pursuing grants and meeting state requirements.