Animal shelter design pact goes to Carson City Board of Supervisors

Action on the planned animal shelter is expected at Carson City’s Board of Supervisors on Thursday.

During the early December meeting starting in the Community Center’s Sierra Room at 8:30 a.m., the city’s governing board will review and decide on a contract for nearly $312,000 to obtain assistance on design development and construction bidding, which will pave the way for the new shelter. In the agenda documents, it is called the Carson City Animal Control Facility.

The proposed contract is with BDA Architecture, PC, of Albuquerque, N.M., which specializes in animal shelter facilities.

“We’re just so thrilled,” said Lisa Schuette, the driving force behind the Carson Animal Services Initiative that is raising the private contributions aimed at helping finance such services for the city. “It’s 30 years overdue.”

The design work and oversight contract is for $283,995 plus and an “additional services” budget of $28,000, bringing the overall total to $311,995.

The pact with BDA calls in step one for preliminary design work, and then proposes $212,870 for step two to work on architectural design development and construction, plus permit documentation, for a building not to exceed 11,500 square feet. Step three is for $71,125 and calls for contractor bidding/selection; building permit application/approval and administration of the construction contract.

In the bid and permit services section, the pact says, the architect shall assist in obtaining either bids or negotiated proposals and assist in awarding and preparing the contracts for construction.

The plan calls for building an animal shelter for $3.9 million, with most in public sector funding but about $200,000 from private donations. Schuette said CASI so far has raised $130,000, but will go on raising money for animal services beyond the construction. She said eventually CASI will raise much more than even the design and oversight work will cost, but the money may go then for equipment needed in the shelter of other things.

The proposed new animal shelter will be on Carson City’s east side north of 5th Street in the Butti Way area where city government’s corporate yard buildings are clustered.

At Thursday’s meeting, the board also will review and possibly take action on an employee efficiency study done for city government by Moss Adams LLP, internal audit consultant. It was ordered by the board after being sought by Supervisor Brad Bonkowski in June. The outside consultant has been handling it since.

Also on the agenda are acceptance of a recommendation for approval of a memorandum of understanding for State Route 28 corridor improvements involving Sand Harbor through rural lakeside Carson City to Spooner Summit, as well as approval of a Master Plan amendment that could lead to the sale of state-owned land near U.S. Highway 50 West at Lake Tahoe Golf Course Drive for development or rural recreation use.