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Franklin County moved closer toward getting a new animal-control building on July 17 when the County Commission approved hiring a construction manager and an architectural firm for the project.

The county has appropriated $1.5 million toward the new building, including $500,000 in COVID-relief funds from last year to go along with a $500,000 donation from an undisclosed donor. The commission also approved another $500,000 from reserve funds in the 2023-24 budget to fully fund the project.

Gary Clardy was hired as the construction manager at $40,000 for a year or whenever the building is finished, whichever comes first, according to the resolution the commission approved. He was the construction manager for the $48 million North and South middle school projects which were completed on schedule and under budget.

The commission also agreed to hire Goodwyn Mills Cawood, an architectural firm from Nashville, for $120,000 to design the facility.

Charles Keller was the only commissioner to vote against the issue after questioning how much the project cost.

An initial cost estimate when the project was first discussed last year was $1 million.

However, Clardy said later that it would probably take $1.5 million to complete the building. The commission approved and agreed to have the facility built for that amount.

Representatives from Animal Harbor, Franklin County’s limited-admission, nonprofit 501(c)(3) shelter, operated by members of the Franklin County Humane Society, approached the Finance Committee in June 2022 about the need for a new shelter.

They informed the committee a donor who wished to remain anonymous offered to fund $500,000 if the county would agree to chip in the same amount for a $1 million facility.

Emily Holland, who is the executive director at Animal Harbor, 56 Nor-Nan Road, Winchester, addressed the committee about how greatly a new shelter is needed.

Animal Harbor’s shelter focuses on getting animals ready to be adopted while the county’s shelter at 332 Utility Road in Winchester handles animals that have been taken in from more extreme circumstances, such as those being hoarded in large numbers amid inhumane conditions and those that are considered less pet-friendly.

Holland said the Franklin County Animal Control Shelter is too small for the volume of animals it holds and has a series of problems that need to be addressed.

“We are here to advocate for the ethical treatment for animals confined in the Franklin County Animal Control Shelter,” she said, adding that the animal totals can exceed 1,000 dogs and several hundred cats.

Holland said the shelter is old and needs to be replaced. She added that it has inadequate heating, ventilation and cooling for the animals and the employees, and the inside kennels are extremely small, not large enough to allow big dogs to lie down.

Holland said the facility has no quarantine space for incoming animals which has allowed disease to spread throughout the facility. She said that a parvovirus recently spread throughout the kennels which led to unnecessary illness and death, and the conditions were followed with an outbreak of kennel cough.

Holland also cited rat-infested food storage, lack of proper sewage disposal, unhealthy conditions for employees, limited office space, improper conditions for washing kennels and other issues.

“The citizens of Franklin County love animals and have high expectations that if an animal is unlucky and ends up in the shelter, that it is handled in a humane way,” she said. “This can’t be happening with the facility as is and the budget it has to work with. These animals struggle daily.”

Holland said the goal is to get a new facility at a different location.

“While thinking about long-term planning, we have researched plans and expect the facility to cost $1 million,” she said. “The good news is we have a citizen who will donate $500,000 if the county will match it to build an adequate facility.

“Not many counties have such a generous donor, and we would expect our county to take advantage of this gesture. Franklin County would get a new facility for 50 percent of the cost. How could you turn that down?”

The committee discussed property potentially being available on county-owned land near the Franklin County Jail and an industrial property on Modena Road.