Abilene City Council to vote on management agreement for new animal shelter
The Abilene City Council will vote Thursday on whether to enter a management agreement with nonprofit All Kind Animal Initiative to manage and operate a new animal shelter.
Animal control will remain a function of the city, but employees currently working for the city on the shelter side of animal services would become employees of All Kind. Animal control employees will remain city employees.
For FY 2023, which began Oct. 1, the city allocated about $1.4 million for animal shelter services. That allocation includes personnel, operating costs, maintenance costs, fuel and vehicle costs, and utility costs.
In addition to that base amount, All Kind under the proposed agreement would receive an additional 5%, or about $69,790, for administration and overhead.
All Kind may request from the city manager up to an additional 4% as part of the city's yearly budget appropriation process.
The cost allocated to animal control expenses is just under $500,000.
The council in October 2021 entered into a professional services agreement with All Kind to assist the city in reviewing animal shelter design work, make recommended changes and establish possible costs.
It entered into another agreement with the nonprofit in July to contribute up to $4 million and water and sewer utility connections. In exchange, All Kind would fund the rest of the roughly $10.2 million project.
Most recently, the council approved a measure that allowed the city to fund its part of the project and fund completion of design services for the building.
Thursday's meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 555 Walnut St.
In other business ...
The council Thursday will study:
∎ Three items related to hosting special events - an updated permitting policy, amending local ordinances to reflect changes and adding a series of special events fees.
The changes create a "one-stop shop" for those wanting to have events, instead of having a piece of that work spread among multiple city departments, said Lesli Andrews, the city's director of community services.
∎ A memorial for fallen city heroes in the north courtyard of the Abilene Convention Center. It would include a freestanding canopy structure and a series of stainless steel laser-inscribed plaques depicting portraits of "those who have given their all in the service of their community," according to information provided to the council.
The total design submitted is about $450,000. The city is exploring more cost-effective alternatives, according to council materials, which might reduce the cost.
∎ Purchase of equipment for a splash pad at Coach James Valentine Park (formerly Lee Park) from Vortex Equipment at a cost of $217,000.
The pad will be the city's sixth and will serve children in the northeast portion of Abilene. Installation of the splash pad will be paid for separately.
Money for the equipment will come from the city's minor improvement fund.
Other splash pads are located at Nelson, Sears, Redbud, Stevenson and Scarborough parks.
∎ Purchase a new restroom for Cobb Park at a cost of $152,057.
∎ A $148,000 contract with Sheppard Surveying Company to survey 40 tracts of city-owned land around Lake Fort Phantom Hill.
∎ A five-year contract with Brightly at a total cost of $212,500 to purchase a software upgrade and a one-time evaluation of its buildings.
The city has 400 buildings of various sizes, and the contract will include an engineer evaluating high-use buildings − City Hall, Abilene Convention Center, Abilene Police Department and Abilene Zoo.
"They evaluate absolutely everything that is part of the infrastructure of those buildings," Andrews said Monday. "They tag it and give it a part of our code and they put it into the system where it will then give us the ability to predict ... when things are starting to reach their end of life."
In turn, city staff will similarly learn how to evaluate structures.
The item also gives the ability make certain regular maintenance, such as changing out filters, is on schedule, while the evaluation of the zoo is needed for accreditation and safety, Andrews said.
∎ Enter into a contract with Patagonia Health for the Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District's electronic health records system.
An advantage is that the new system will be able to transfer immunization data directly into a state database.
It also has a billing module to facilitate submission of claims to Medicaid, managed care organizations and private insurance companies.
The cost over five years will be $270,300
Brian Bethel covers city and county government and general news for the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Council to vote on management agreement for new animal shelter
