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Animal shelter bids come in far above budget; county weighs retrofit or redesign
Summary
The county's planned animal shelter received contractor bids between about $1.3 million and $2.9 million, far above initial allocations. Staff recommended redesign options including adapting a Terrell County plan (cost to adapt estimated at $48,000) or renovating the existing facility as a temporary measure while exploring additional funding.
Staff reported wide variance in contractor bids for a new animal shelter after design and a prior needs assessment. Initial work by the county’s architect produced plans for a new facility; when the project went to bid the low contractor estimate was roughly $1.3 million and the high bid approached $2.9 million — well above the county’s earlier ARP and state funds set aside for the project.
Given the gap between available funds and bids, staff recommended several options: (1) direct the architect to adapt an existing Terrell County shelter design (staff estimated the adaptation work at about $48,000) and rebid; (2) reject the current bids and rebid the project with adjusted scope; or (3) cancel the new-construction plan and spend a smaller sum to renovate and temporarily upgrade the existing facility to address state inspection concerns. Staff noted the state inspector has told the county the current open-air facility is at risk unless maintenance and staff capacity are improved. Commissioners asked staff to bring costed options and to seek possible regional or state funding partnerships.
