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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > May > 15 > Entry
Shelter gets rolling … Again
A year ago this month, ground was broken on Butler County’s new animal shelter … And the ruffled dirt has remained untouched ever since.
But on Thursday, May 15, county commissioners made the next step in renewing their promise of building a state-of-the-art facility for local strays — and they said this time the project will move forward on budget.
In 2006, volunteers and workers from Butler County Animal Friends Humane Society introduced the idea of a 0.5-mill levy to support the move from a 55-year-old facility in Trenton to a new building off Princeton Road.
While voters approved the levy, the only work that’s been done on site was a groundbreaking on May 3, 2007, featuring golden ceremonial shovels.
County officials are saying now, though, real shovels — and other equipment — could be hitting the dirt there within the next month with this week’s approval of a $288,000 bid to Brochear Contractors to begin clearing the site for construction.
The bid is $30,000 less than a bid months ago for the same work, according to Interim Administrator Tim Williams, and they may go a long way in speeding up the process. If all goes as planned this time around, the new facility could be operational by springtime next year.
Commissioners said the process thus far has been frustrating, especially given previous bids for work that have come back more than a million dollars above the $3.4 million they expected to pay. Read more about that story here.
“We have $3.4 million to spend on the animal shelter, and we’re going to build it for $3.4 million,” said Commissioner Donald Dixon.
Others remained concerned about holding steadfast on that number.
“It might not be enough,” said Leland Gordon, executive director of Animal Friends. “We have to wait and see what the bid says when it comes back. But if there is a gap in funding, we hope that somebody in the community will step up and fill that gap.”
Still, Gordon said, “It’s better late than never.”
Question: Are you frustrated by the delays?
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By Johnny
May 18, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this
Why did the new Board of Elelctions Building go up so fast and nothing is done on the Animal Shelter. Could it be the Director of the Board of Elections and Commissioner Don Dixon are living together.