Blog note: this article references a 2006-07
grand jury report calling the shelter inadequate in size and design and urging
the county to make building a new shelter a high priority. Eight years later, what
the grand jury started is now coming to fruition.
FAIRFIELD — Funding to cover $2.1 million in
cost overruns and changes to the Solano County animal shelter expansion project
was approved Tuesday by a unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors.
The expansion project was initially budgeted
at $5.15 million, but added expenses bumped the cost to $7.22 million,
according to a county staff report.
The county incurred cost overages of $1.1
million as a result of mechanical system revisions, unforeseen site work,
increased water connection fees and marketplace increases for materials and
labor, county staff said in their report.
Additionally, the design team identified the
need for a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for the
existing shelter building at a cost of $926,000, the report said.
Funding for the additional costs will come
from a combination of $1.3 million in public facilities fees and $881,000 in
capital project funds that were previously allocated to the animal shelter
construction project, according to county staff.
Public facilities fees, adopted by Solano
County in the 1992-93 fiscal year, are collected on new construction in the
county and are used to fund expansion of county facilities to meet growth
requirements. The $1.3 million needed to complete this project will come from
$3.6 million that as of June 30 was in the public facilities fees fund balance
for countywide public protection.
The $881,000 in capital project funds will
come from $781,316 that was approved by the board in the 2010-11 fiscal year
budget to make improvements to the administrative office space at the shelter.
Those funds were not spent and remain available to fund improvements, the staff
report said. An additional $100,000 in capital project funds was previously
approved by the board for use in funding the heating, ventilation and air
conditioning system project in the 2014-15 fiscal year, the report said.
Work is complete on two of the three phases of
the animal shelter expansion project. Phases 1 and 2 included site work,
relocation of the temporary modular building used for administrative offices,
and design and construction of a new 12,500-square-foot kennel at the existing
Clay Bank Road site.
The new kennel building, completed in October,
features a spay-neuter clinic that is aimed at generating revenue for the
shelter that can help defray future operational costs. The facility includes
128 kennels, including a puppy room and recovery room kennels. The new kennel
building includes feline housing.
Phase 3, which involves the remodel of a
portion of the 13,000-square-foot building previously used, has received
permits and is ready to build, the staff report said. The final phase is
expected to be done in September 2016.
The 114 kennels in that building will be
retained for use.
The Animal Shelter Program has remained in
operation during construction.
Solano County in 2012 entered into a $5.15
million agreement with Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City,
Vacaville and Vallejo for animal care and sheltering services from 2012 through
2027. The approved project was funded by the issuance of certificates of
participation with the member cities reimbursing the county for their portions
of the costs over the term of the agreement.
The Clay Bank Road animal shelter built in
1986 has been an issue for years. The 2006-07 grand jury issued a report
calling it “inadequate in size and design” and urged the county to make
building a new shelter a “high priority.”
The county and its
seven cities opted for the current expansion project instead of the new animal
shelter envisioned in a 2009 county animal shelter master plan that carried a
price tag of $28 million to $34 million.
December 9, 2015
Fairfield
Daily Republic
By
Kevin W. Green
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