Post date: Jan 20, 2017 3:58:8 PM
I joined with my colleagues in North Adams and Adams to be part of a regional application for funding for a replacement dog kennel. More of a priority for Adams and North Adams and the city really took the lead on securing the funding. The intention is to share a full scale kennel facility at the building that will be the new North Adams DPW. The kennel facility will be a wholly separate section with it's own access and lighting.
We are working together now to develop design specifications as well as a shared services operating agreement. My sense for us is that our budgeted expenses will remain roughly the same or slightly less. Given that our own facility use is so variable, it is hard to pin down specifically. That said, our facility is expensive to operate in winter if we need it.
Longer run, the group aspires to consider shared Animal Control services. That will require some additional planning in terms of service expectations, staffing, operating guidelines, oversight and control, which we all acknowledge will take more time.