New animal shelter plan
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on February 16, 2004 2:04 PM
The Wayne County commissioners will begin discussions Tuesday on the new animal shelter, which could be under construction later this year.
The county board has two decisions to make -- how much it's willing to spend and where the new shelter will be located. One site being considered is on Clingman Street near the old campus of Wayne Community College.
The animal control task force, a citizens group studying the shelter, has asked the commissioners to budget $1 million for the project. The board had earlier talked about the shelter possibly costing $700,000.
The task force's request was based on the report of the Humane Society of the United States and the task force's own research, according to Dr. Stan Griffith, a veterinarian in Wayne County.
"The HSUS has recommended a number of dog runs and cat cages that we need," Dr. Griffith said today. That gave the task force an idea of how much kennel space Wayne County needs.
The task force visited other county shelters and looked at their animal control operations. Room will be needed for administrative offices, storage and equipment, he said.
Shelters cost around $100 per square foot to build, Griffith said. But the actual cost cannot be determined until a design is approved and bids are received.
The shelter's location may be easier to decide.
The task force has asked that the shelter be built on the county's 30-acre-plus tract off Clingman Street, near the old Wayne Community College campus and the city of Goldsboro's garage. About five acres would be needed.
That land has several advantages, said task force Chairman George Wolfe. It's centrally located in the county and has good access from all directions. It already has all the needed utilities. The county owns enough land for future expansions of the shelter.
Portions of the land are heavily wooded. That would help block sound from the shelter and prevent neighbors from being disturbed, Wolfe said.
The county probably could not renovate or replace the shelter on Brick Street off U.S. 117, because the land is too low and flooded in 1999.
Other business
Also Tuesday, the commissioners are scheduled to do the following:
*Complete the last of the appeals of the 2003 property tax valuations.
*Hear the auditors' presentation of the 2002-3003 county audit. The board received its copies for review Feb. 3.
*Discuss the day reporting center's 2004-2005 budget.
*Cancel or reschedule the board's March 2 meeting as some county officials will be traveling that week to Washington, D.C., for the National Association of Counties' legislative conference.
*Donate some surplus property at the Sheriff's Office to Wayne Community College for its basic law-enforcement training program.
The commissioners will convene at 8 a.m. Tuesday for a briefing on the agenda. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting room, third floor, Wayne County Courthouse Annex, 224 E. Walnut St.