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Resident urges pause on animal‑control facility spending after FOIA shows nearly $8,000 in outside fees
Summary
A resident presenting FOIA documents told the Board the county has spent about $8,000 on outside professional services for a proposed animal control facility and urged a pause on further spending until renovation costs for the existing facility are estimated and a side‑by‑side cost comparison is published.
At the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors meeting on Feb. 9, resident Amy Lawhorne presented records she obtained under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and asked the Board to halt additional spending on a proposed new animal control facility until officials provide more comparative analysis.
Lawhorne, a District 2 resident and Dillwyn town resident, said the FOIA records supplied by County Administrator Karl Carter showed the county already paid nearly $8,000 in outside professional fees related to the project, including a $4,000 invoice from Dominion Seven Architects and a $3,800 appraisal fee. She said the records did not include staff‑hour totals or an estimate to renovate the county‑owned Andersonville Road facility, and she noted the Town of Dillwyn had rejected the proposed location.
“I ask that you first pause any additional spending related to building, buying land or building a new facility,” Lawhorne said. She asked the Board to obtain a cost estimate to renovate or expand the Andersonville Road facility and publish a side‑by‑side comparison of renovation vs. replacement before committing more taxpayer funds.
County staff did not present a new cost estimate at the meeting. Lawhorne said she will continue to use FOIA to track county spending on the project.
What happens next: The Board did not vote to adopt any new policy on the animal control facility at the Feb. 9 meeting. The request is a public‑comment appeal to staff and supervisors; any administrative pause or formal review would require subsequent Board action or staff direction.
