Council Gets First Glimpse At Dog Pound Design

By John Voket

The Legislative Council got to see where Spot will run, if Spot becomes a guest of Newtown’s planned new animal control facility.

A presentation by former first selectman Herb Rosenthal, who is a spokesperson for the local nonprofit Canine Advocates, and Public Works Director Fred Hurley during the regular council meeting September 14 provided details about the proposed 4,000-plus-square-foot facility.

The presentation, and answers to questions that followed, also sought to assure the council that the land on which the facility will be built, which is being conveyed from the state to the town, poses little or no future environmental risk or exposure physically or legally.

According to Mr Rosenthal, the parcel in question was the site of two former sewage treatment facilities. At one point, environmental consultant Russell Bartley previously reported to the council, there was also evidence of a mercury spill at the site.

Following the latest council meeting, Chairman Jeff Capeci said his panel was comfortable with the assertion that the spill was cleaned up. But the council chose to delay its authorization of the conveyance until the state could provide further evidence of the level of environmental cleanup performed by its contractors prior to the proposed transfer of the property to Newtown and/or the final in a series of tests being performed by Mr Bartley.

“The state apparently has reports that illustrate the level of cleanup conducted,” Mr Capeci said. “The [mercury] spill may or may not have been significant, but we wanted to wait for additional information from the state about that.”

By charter, it is the council that has the ultimate authority to authorize the acceptance of the property, and its transfer from the state to town ownership. The presentation by Mr Rosenthal and Mr Hurley was designed to keep the council informed about the project, which Mr Hurley hopes to break ground on by next spring.

Mr Capeci said no matter what additional information comes from the state, he feels the council would be inclined to act once it receives the final stage of test reporting from its environmental consultant by the end of October.

“We did not feel it would be a burden, or substantially delay the conveyance for a few more weeks, to see the test results,” Mr Capeci said. “This project has been in the works for some time, and the need for such a facility is clearly evident.”

During the council presentation, Mr Hurley made it clear that beyond the physical limitations of the existing decades-old animal control facility adjacent to the town dump, that facility was also a substantial taxpayer burden because of its lack of energy efficiency.

Once the council acts to accept the state property, Mr Capeci said the council’s Ordinance Committee will go to work drafting the necessary paperwork to establish a state-required ordinance so the new facility can lawfully accept cats.

Mr Rosenthal told the council this week that the town had recently learned a cat ordinance was required by state law in order to accept felines along with canines at the local pound.

Under questioning from the council Wednesday, Mr Rosenthal explained that the planned facility can be built to house dogs in up to 20 runs, although Mr Hurley said architectural renderings and a floor plan circulated at the meeting were subject to change based on logistics and budgeting.

Mr Rosenthal said the town has currently authorized $700,000 in bonding for the facility, which would be added to a $100,000 state grant and more than $200,000 raised by Canine Advocates, the volunteer organization that supports the facility with food, donations, and volunteers who provide limited care for, and who exercise, the dogs on site.

Mr Hurley said he was about to issue a second request for proposal (RFP) for professional services relative to the final design and preconstruction after costs on an initial RFP came in too high. The public works chief said he suspected the responders to the RFP failed to take into account the level of pro bono offers for architectural and other services already provided or offered.

He also said that upon receiving the state conveyance of the property, the town could begin what might be a lengthy permitting process to see the project to its construction phase.

“We can’t begin to develop a site plan until we own the property,” Mr Rosenthal added.