The new shelter will replace the current facility on Lakeport Boulevard, which was built in the 1940s. Animal Care & Control officials say the current shelter is too small and run down, and that its poor ventilation system promotes the spread of disease among the animals.
The board voted to award a $185,000 bid to Rege Construction of Cloverdale to begin phase one of the project, said Public Works Director Gerald Shaul.
Phase one, said Shaul, will include flattening out a hill, and running sewer, water and power lines.
Shaul said the board also authorized Public Works to go out to bid April 4 for phase two.
The shelter's phase two will include the construction of a 3,400-square-foot building that will house Animal Care & Control's office and indoor kennels, Shaul said, as well as a detached, 3,400-square-foot kennel building.
Animal Care & Control Director Denise Johnson said the new building will ultimately have 72 kennels for dogs, twice the current number, and have 30 to 40 more cages for cats.
That phase is expected to cost about $2 million, said Shaul, and will start as soon as phase one is complete.
Shaul said the shelter has been designed to allow for future expansion to the main building, as well as construction of another detached kennel building.
“We would have liked to have built the ultimate building, but we just couldn't afford it,” said Shaul, who estimated that such a project would probably have cost double the current $2 million price tag.
The shelter, said Shaul, will be located near the Lake County Jail and the Lake County Sanitation District on county-owned land. Shaul said it won't be visible from the highway, and there are no private neighbors.
Animal Care & Control already utilizes inmate labor to help at the shelter, said Johnson, and the new shelter's close proximity to the jail will make inmates more accessible.
“It''s going to make it a lot easier to use inmate help than it already is,” she said.
Johnson said the new location also will offer more room for large livestock than the current shelter.
One of the new shelter's features will be its use of solar energy.
“I'm so excited we're going to be solar,” Johnson said.
The new shelter effort has been helped by community groups such as Lake County Animal Services, which formed three years ago.
The group's founder and director, Karen Schaver, said raising funds for the shelter is part of the group's mission statement.
In the last three years, they've raised $22,000, Schaver said, through the work of many individuals and community groups who have worked to raise awareness about the needs of animals, and who conducted fundraisers such as dog-walking events, a horse show and fitness days. Donation boxes at area stores are also part of the effort, she said.
When the shelter is built, said Johnson, those funds the group raised will be turned over to Animal Care & Control.
Shaul said construction will begin as soon as the weather permits, most likely later in the spring.
If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to the shelter fund, donations may be mailed either to Lake County Animal Care & Control, 887 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport CA 95453 (write "shelter donation" on your check), or Lake County Animal Services Shelter Fund, P.O. Box 662, Lakeport, CA 95453.
For more information about helping animals locally, including adopting pets or education, visit the following Web sites: Lake County Animal Care & Control, www.co.lake.ca.us/countygovernment/animalcontrol/animalcontrol.asp; or Lake County Animal Services, www.lakecountyanimalservices.org.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
