Frisco advances plan for city‑funded, privately operated animal facility; council asks staff to pursue LOI

Frisco officials on Tuesday outlined a proposed public–private animal facility intended to keep Frisco animals local, speed reunification with owners and offer on‑site veterinary and behavior services.

Chief Shilson opened the presentation by showing data from Collin County suggesting Frisco accounts for a small share of the county shelter population and by laying out the goals for a local facility: a nearby redemption option to avoid trips to McKinney, higher‑quality on‑site care, minimum holding periods and expanded public education and training to reduce owner surrenders.

Ken Schmidt, the city’s director of special projects, described a conceptual two‑story, roughly 19,000‑square‑foot building on a 4‑acre site south of PGA Parkway west of Preston Road. The proposed facility would include city‑serving intake and short‑term holding space, separate private boarding/daycare/grooming areas and a full‑service veterinary clinic. Schmidt described an all‑in construction estimate of $12.8 million and a 20‑year lease model in which the community development corporation (CDC) would finance construction and recover a portion of costs through a lease with the operator.

“Essentially, with this particular partnership, the operator is not only selling private goods and services, they are providing public goods and services back to the city,” Schmidt said, describing a rent‑credit approach that could allow services provided to Frisco to count toward base rent.

Nicole Kohanski, founder of Wiggle Bud Academy and one of the proposed operator partners, said the model would combine boarding and grooming operations with credentialed trainers and an embedded veterinary team. “I want to meet the needs of the animals in our care and meet the education and care needs of the people in our community,” Kohanski said.

Dr. Margie Schiller, a veterinarian who said she practices mobile and emergency medicine in North Texas, described how onsite medical and behavioral resources could reduce euthanasia and improve animal outcomes.

Council members questioned capacity, staffing and holding periods. Presenters proposed a minimum five‑day holding period for animals Frisco places in the facility but said that could vary with demand and capacity; overflow and long‑term housing would continue to rely on Collin County Animal Services (CCAS) as a backstop. “This facility is designed to keep animals out of the shelter,” Chief Shilson said, adding that the city would still coordinate with foster groups and rescues to find alternatives to long‑term shelter housing.

Members of the public praised the veterinary and training elements but repeatedly asked how a minimum 3–5 day hold window (presenters said the goal is five days) would protect animals when CCAS is experiencing closure or disease outbreaks and whether owner surrenders and dumped animals would be accepted at the new site. Presenters repeated that the facility would not take owner surrenders at intake but that staff would coordinate resources (pet pantry, foster, rescue pathways and referral to CCAS) and that enforcement investigations would follow if an animal was dumped.

After public comment, the council gave staff direction—by majority show of hands—to continue refining the partnership model and to pursue a letter of intent to define operator services, rent‑credit mechanics and formal agreement terms. Staff will return with more detailed written answers to the public’s technical questions and the draft LOI for further council consideration.

What’s next: staff will draft and return with a letter of intent and the proposed operating agreement terms; public questions about hold windows, surrender pathways and disease contingency planning will be addressed in follow‑up materials and subsequent meetings.