Porter County animal shelter proposal moves ahead
NWI Times
September 15, 2015 - 5:00 pm
VALPARAISO | The Porter County Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday to take the first step toward the possibility of building a new animal shelter.
The commissioners directed DLZ Indiana to write up a request for a proposal for the design of a new Porter County Animal Shelter.
Porter County Commissioner Jeff Good, R-Center, said this is the best way to go forward since at this point it's hard to determine cost if such things as the size and scope of the building aren't known.
"We're not getting out ahead of our skis. We are just trying to be prepared ... Once we have the design, we can go forward," Good said.
Good has continued to maintain that planning for a new animal shelter is very much alive and well, despite claims made to the contrary by the Porter County Council at a meeting in late July.
The County Council had a lengthy discussion during its meeting in July, during which time members said it appeared the Board of Commissioners was no longer working toward building a new shelter.
Past proposals have included moving the shelter to the former Fetla's store on Ind. 2, having Opportunity Enterprises lend a hand with janitorial services, building a shelter at Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Liberty Township and Partnering with Lakeshore PAWS dog rescue, county officials have said.
There had also been talk about building new shelter south of the intersection of Ind. 149 and Ind. 130.
The latest proposal, which surfaced late last year, called for replacing the 33-year-old shelter with a new one at the county-owned Expo Center site along Ind. 49, south of U.S. 30. The county has an anonymous donor offering $1 million toward construction costs.
Porter County Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, said commissioners have done a deep dive as far as researching the building of a new animal shelter including costs, size, location and making it cost effective.
"It's absolutely needed," Blaney said.
Good said he's finding in his research that everyone wants a shelter but no one wants it in their backyard.
"I've taken it very seriously; it's all part of educating self before spending taxpayers' money," Good said.
In related business, the commissioners agreed to a proposal by Porter County Animal Shelter Director Toni Bianchi to go forward with a trap, neuter and release program for the county's feral or wild cat population.
Bianchi said the program will end up costing the county less money in the long run because the feral cats will be humanely trapped then neutered and released back to their same location.
The cats, because they are being neutered, won't keep reproducing so eventually the population would die out.
"We get flooded with cats in the spring and fall and this kind of program will reduce that," Bianchi said.
Commissioners also approved a $5,000 allocation that must next be approved by the Porter County Council.
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