Companies pitch plans for animal shelter
Post-Tribune
January 19, 2016
Three companies or groups of companies have thrown their hats in the ring to build a new animal shelter for Porter County.
Porter County Commissioner Jeff Good, R-Center, said during a Tuesday meeting the technical service committee for the project received three responses to submit requests for proposals for the shelter, which will be constructed on county-owned Indiana 49, north of the Porter County Expo Center.
The committee reviewed the responses and ranked Larson Danielson Construction Company first, Gariup Construction and M2Ke Design second and Core, Epoch, Millies and Abonmarche third.
"We feel we have really good players who want to put an animal shelter together," Good said, adding the committee consists of himself and an engineer and construction company representative from within the county.
County officials long have said the current shelter, 2056 Heavilin Road, is outdated and too small for the number of animals it serves.
The technical service committee will put together what it wants to see in a new shelter for a request for proposals and that will go out Feb. 17, he said. The companies' proposals will be due April 7, with estimated costs. He expects a tentative groundbreaking in May.
At the same time, Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, is working with an advisory committee composed of representatives from the county council, a rescue group, the Expo Center, the animal shelter, the fair board and a veterinarian.
Their goal is to come up with what services the shelter will provide and what the facility will need.
"They're there to give input so we don't step on toes or duplicate (services)," she said.
Good said he didn't have any idea on what the facility would cost, but officials are trying to keep the building portion of the project under $2 million. A feasibility study a few ago by Shelter Planners of America suggested a new shelter would cost approximately $2.6 million.
The competitive nature of the design/build process, Good said, helps keep the price in check.
"For a specialty-type building, this is the way to go. You can control the design and any time you control the design, you control the costs," he said.
In related business, commissioners approved a contract for animal control and animal shelter services between the county and Beverly Shores, part of an update started in June for contracts between the county and its communities for those services.
The city of Portage has its own animal control officer and takes its animals to the Hobart Humane Society, but Board of Commissioners President John Evans, R-North, asked county attorney Scott McClure to work up the costs for Portage as plans for the shelter move forward.
"We can say we offered (the contracts) to everyone now," Evans said.
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