Durant council approves low bid to build new animal shelter, plans to borrow about $800,000

Durant — The Durant City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to accept the low construction bid for a new city animal shelter and to proceed with the project despite an estimated funding shortfall of about $800,000.

Mayor Tucker opened the special meeting and said the single agenda item was consideration of the shelter construction bids. Council member Danny moved to accept the low bid from Mid Plains, and a second was offered; the clerk called a roll and the measure passed 5–0.

The council’s discussion centered on funding options to close the gap between roughly $1.1 million currently identified for the project and the low bid that was in the $2.3 million range. Mayor Tucker said the Choctaw Community Partnership Fund has been set aside for the shelter over the past two years and could help service debt. “We have 1000001 half of it already,” Mayor Tucker said, adding later, “the city will be able to borrow $800,000 for this project. I’m confident of that.”

City staff and councilors described a blended approach that would use reserved partnership funds, portions of capital-improvement and half-cent funds, and a loan. City manager Ann (Ann Chin, introduced during the meeting) supplied fiscal figures during discussion and the council settled on a financing plan that relies on borrowing roughly $800,000, with illustrative annual debt service of about $325,000–$350,000 in the scenarios presented.

Shelter operations and staffing were also a central part of the discussion. The shelter supervisor said the city’s current shelter operates at approximately $45,000 a year with a small staff and limited capacity. “When we move into the new shelter… we’re moving from that 45,000 that we have now into closer to about 250,” the shelter supervisor said, summarizing projected first-year operating costs after expanding staffing and services to meet national standards.

Councilors and staff debated whether the engineer’s estimate and low bid were reasonable given specialty construction needs such as drainage and specific kennel flooring. One council member asked whether the higher bids were padding or whether the low bid might be optimistic; staff said the single-price bidding process requires contractors to factor in unknowns and allowed that construction costs can continue to rise.

The motion that passed directs staff to proceed with awarding the low bid and to advance financing steps; councilors said the city would pursue the public, competitive processes required for borrowing and finalize terms publicly. Mayor Tucker thanked Chief Petty and shelter staff for the information they provided during the meeting.

The council adjourned after the vote. The contract award process and any finalized loan terms were left to staff work and subsequent public action.