There’s been a lot of talk about the need for and delays in building a new animal shelter in Habersham County. The current shelter is outdated and consistently overcrowded.
On September 9, an online petition began circulating on change.org asking people to sign in a push to get the new animal shelter built.
Petition organizer Katherine Warwick wrote, “The animals need us to speak for them. Our local animal shelter has been over capacity for far too long, and things need to change right away instead of at a later date.”
Warwick went on to state, “We need transparency on how and when this project is moving forward. Let’s make things happen the right way. We paid our taxes and made our vote. Now the county needs to hear us, and we need to hear from the county.”
In response to these and other online comments, Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore issued a news release on September 13. He says planning continues for the construction of a new Habersham County Animal Care and Control facility.
Delays and spiraling costs
Moore says the process was delayed when the projected cost of grading for the original site was determined to be cost-prohibitive at up to $1 million. The county searched for other properties, eventually selecting county-owned property behind South Habersham Middle School off Old Athens Highway.
“That property offers plenty of room for both the future park and an animal shelter,” says Chief Financial Officer Tim Sims. “Hopefully, with the addition of a future park, it will spark additional citizen interest for volunteering and adoptions at the animal shelter.”
The county awarded the facility design contract to the architectural firm Croft & Associates. According to Moore, the firm has extensive experience in both public safety and animal care and control facilities.
Croft has nearly completed the preliminary design for the planned shelter.
The shelter is one of several projects voters approved in the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax VII.
County officials say inflation and supply chain issues have caused construction costs to quadruple since the budget for the shelter was set. Still, their goal is to break ground in 2024.
Timelines
The county is currently taking bids for a construction manager at risk to oversee the project. That contract could be awarded in the next 90 days.
Once that position is filled, the construction manager will determine what the county can build for the money it has. After the county commission approves the plan, the project will then be bid out to construction firms.
Construction is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete.
The change.org petition continues to circulate online. As of September 13, Warwick had collected 374 signatures of her 500 goal.
