Utopia to close and converted to pound
Utopia Pet Lodge will close and be converted to a municipal pound in a major overturn of a previous Baw Baw Shire decision.
Cr Danny Goss told councillors it was time to admit fault and fix the “mess the current council had inherited.”
A report outlining options for the Longwarry North property was presented to councillors on Wednesday night.
Officers recommended council undertake a tender process to construct a new pound on the property, featuring 14 dog pens and 28 cat pens, at an estimated cost of $741,000.
The report also suggested officers prepare an annual report on the operations of Utopia, despite year to date financials showing the pet accommodation facility was running at a loss.
Instead, Cr Goss moved council shut down Utopia and convert the facility to an animal pound.
Cr Goss said it was unnecessary for the current council to be in this position.
He said everybody agreed a new pound was needed so council needed to move on from the decision of the previous council.
“Sometimes I think it’s better to admit fault and admit the decision making was wrong.
“We need to fix this mess we have inherited. It is not our business to be running this. It’s running at a loss and it wasn’t when it was purchased,” he said.
Cr Goss said he had called for the figures to be released and it was disappointing that had not happened.
“But what I can say is the figures back up my argument that we shouldn’t be running this business.
“I disagree with former ceo Helen Anstis that revenue from this business would offset rate capping – if it was making $500,000 or $600,000 maybe, but it’s not.
“I haven’t seen a business case here that satisfies me,” he said.
Cr Goss said a “retrofit” of the Utopia facility, expected to cost about $350,000, would ensure the Utopia facility was compliant with pound regulations.
Council will seek tenders for the works to create more dog and cat pens than currently available at Galloway St, with potential for future expansion.
Cr Keith Cook said the current pound was small and outdated and needed to be dealt with straight away. He said the Longwarry site provided plenty of space and plenty of potential for future expansion.
Cr Jessica O’Donnell said she could not justify running a business that council could not release the information on.
“We are not the owners of the documentation the public wants to see. But I don’t feel comfortable running a business without the transparency that the public deserves,” she said.
Cr Michael Leaney said the Utopia purchase was like driving a car into a ditch – “and now we have to pull it out and minimise the damage.”
“It is an insidious situation and we have to move forward and get the best outcome for the community,” he said.
Two councillors who were both responsible for the previous decision – Cr Tricia Jones and mayor Joe Gauci – supported the change in direction.
Cr Gauci said the previous council had not made a quick decision to purchase Utopia and had received all the relevant documentation at the time.
“We were unsure what the business case would be because we felt we needed to let it (Utopia) run for 12 months.
But in that time, Cr Gauci said things had changed and new information including internal profit and loss figures, indicated the facility was not making money and was not likely to make money.
Cr Jones said it had been a difficult journey but council had to create a bigger pound to cater for increasing numbers of impounded animals.
Cr Power, who also was on the previous council, voted in favour of the motion.
Crs Darren Wallace and Peter Kostos were the only councillors who spoke against the motion.
Cr Wallace said the motion was “short sighted” and would only have limited capacity.
He said he was concerned council would be going through this same process in five years.
Cr Kostos said he also wanted to see council build a larger facility that would see it into the future. “Utopia converted into a pound will probably be running like Galloway St in five years. Let’s develop the site to its potential.”