The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
City looks for help on stalled animal shelter
Carbone plans to apply for federal funding
“We developed a design plan for a new shelter that would be shared by Torrington, Litchfield and Goshen, and could eventually include other towns. Unfortunately, the seven bids we received were much higher than we anticipated, between $1.9 million and $2.7 million.” Rick Lynn, director of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments
TORRINGTON — The city’s regional animal control building, a run-down little structure on Bogue Road over the Harwinton line, was supposed to be replaced by a shiny, new facility in 2019.
Three years later, the project finally may get started, thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act, which is expected to funnel millions of dollars into municipalities and agencies around the country.
Voters approved the project in 2018, after a design and proposal was developed by the Northwest Hills Council of Governments in 2015.
Mayor Elinor Carbone said she is applying for money for the project through the USDA Community Programs funding, established under the ARPA.
“It’s established to cover the gap between the authorized bonding amount, contributions from partner communities and funds from our annual operating budget,” Carbone said.
Torrington needs the extra funding because the project’s costs have increased. Voters approved borrowing up to $1 million to build the facility in 2018. But in 2019, the
lowest bid was $1.9 million, Carbone said.
Rick Lynn, director of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments, said the agency designed a new dog shelter that was expected to be shared by Torrington, Litchfield and Goshen, and eventually would include other towns. At the time, Lynn said that when requests for proposals were made in spring 2019, construction companies in Connecticut were busy, which resulted in higher bids.
“We developed a design plan for a new shelter that would be shared by Torrington, Litchfield and Goshen, and could eventually include other towns,” Lynn said. “Unfortunately, the seven bids we received were much higher than we anticipated, between $1.9 million and $2.7 million.”
Litchfield then changed its participation commitment in the project, and is looking to contribute to it with annual payments instead of a lump sum, according to Carbone.
The regional animal shelter project was first developed in 2015.
The new facility would be built on Bogue Road where the old building, built in the 1960s, now stands. Officials determined there wasn’t enough space for the dogs and cats that are kept there until they’re adopted.
The animal shelter was established to give towns in and around Torrington a place to keep lost or wandering animals. Under the regional agreement, Torrington provides full-time animal control officers seven days a week, with shifts running from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. The lead animal control officer is Caitlin Neild.
Neild was unavailable to answer questions Thursday, but held up two crossed fingers and said, “hopefully,” when asked whether she thought the shelter project was going forward.
The new shelter would have up to 26 kennels for dogs and 18 to 20 cat cages, as well as additional kennels for a quarantine area for new animals. Currently, cats are sometimes kept in carriers in a small, indoor area near the kennels.