Animal shelter task force continues work

BENTONVILLE — The Animal Shelter Task Force will move forward as if a future shelter would be a partnership between the city and a nonprofit organization.

Task force subcommittees gave an update to other group members on the work they’ve done Thursday evening.

Tim Robinson, member of the ownership committee tasked with looking at public, private and hybrid ownership options, outlined four options and their pros and cons.

The options Robinson presented were a municipal-owned shelter, a privately run shelter with a city contract for certain services, a city-owned shelter that’s privately funded and having a municipal shelter and private shelter.

The task force agreed that the first two options were the least feasible.

A city-owned shelter that’s privately funded would allow a nonprofit organization to run the operation while the city owned the building and land, Robinson said.

“Here you kind of have the best of both worlds,” Robinson said.

Task force member Bill Burckart said the nonprofit group and city could cost share for the design and construction of the building.

Burckart, who also serves on the land and zoning committee, listed off 10 potential sites for the shelter’s location. Several of the sites were in the city’s southwest. A couple were near the intersection of Southwest Regional Airport Boulevard and Southwest I Street.

The list of sites included city land, land owned by Bentonville Public Schools and private land for sale.

Task force members talked about the importance of the shelter being inviting and friendly, a facility to be proud of and in a location with high traffic and visibility.

Steven Galen, from the funding committee, said the committee met, but more information is going to have to be determined before fundraising can start.

“The more we can make it less of a fuzzy image and more we can make it a concrete image, the easier it’ll be for people to get their arms around it,” he said.

Much of the two-hour meeting involved discussion on how to get that information, such as what services will be offered, what costs will be, what sponsorship opportunities will be available, how the operating organization will be set up and even what area the shelter will service.

It could serve a county need and not just a Bentonville need, some members mentioned.

The task force was created in May after community members asked for city leaders to explore what it would take for Bentonville to get its own shelter instead of taking lost and stray dogs to Centerton’s shelter.

The task force will meet again Aug. 16, where members will discuss subcommittee progress and set goals for its next public feedback meeting, whose date has yet to be set.

“The more we can make it less of a fuzzy image and more we can make it a concrete image, the easier it’ll be for people to get their arms around it.” — Steven Galen, funding committee member