Trumbull County weighs a scaled-down dog kennel after redesign cuts price and footprint

County architects presented revised plans for a proposed Trumbull County dog kennel that reduce the building footprint and remove higher-cost features in an effort to bring the project within a lower price range.

Snyder, the lead consultant on the redesign, told commissioners the original conceptwas a 6,0007,000-square-foot facility with extensive features and a rough order of magnitude of about $3.3 million. After trimming offices, eliminating an indoor play area and deleting heated slab and indoor/outdoor kennels, the plan shrank to roughly 5,600 square feet. "We reduced the footprint from what was 7,400 to 5,600," Snyder said, adding that simplified construction and removing energy-intensive elements lowered the estimated building cost to "around $2 million to $2.5 million, depending on final scope." (Snyder)

The architect also confirmed the preferred site is a 3.1-acre parcel donated by the Animal Welfare League (AWL); due to easements and a creek the actual buildable area is far smaller. "The buildable area of the site was less than 0.2 of an acre," Snyder said, noting utilities and easements required routing work to the street.

Dog warden Matthew DelBono, whose hiring the board also approved in the same meeting, and kennel staff described improved operations and volunteer involvement since recent changes. Still, rescue partners argued the county needs more capacity: "Adequate? 60," a rescue representative said when asked what would be needed (Jason Cook). Prosecutor Bill Danso framed the decision as a policy choice for the board: whether the county will operate as a rapid-throughput pound that minimizes stays around the statutory 72-hour hold or as a larger, shelter-style operation that requires more beds and sustained funding.

Commissioners and the consultant discussed funding paths, including a mix of donor support, county funds and publicprivate approaches. Snyder said some program elements could be packaged as donation-funded alternates so that donors could underwrite features later in construction: "If those are donation items, they can be alternates and added later," he said.

The board asked the consultant and kennel leadership to review the revised drawings with operations staff and voices from the volunteer community, then return with a refined cost estimate and recommendations for procurement. The consultant said a more rigorous estimate would require a contractor-level estimator or a construction manager at risk to firm numbers before a bid.

Next steps: staff was asked to circulate the revised plans to stakeholders, prepare a more detailed cost estimate or contractor estimate, and return to the board with recommendations on scope and funding. No formal funding decision or contract authorization occurred at the workshop.