Committee endorses three sites for new shelter

A new city Animal Care and Control operation looks like it is headed to a spot near the Kirkwood Community College campus or a spot on the campus.

An 11-member Animal Shelter Site Selection Advisory Committee on Friday afternoon unanimously gave the go ahead for the city to conduct a benefit-cost analysis on three potential sites, though committee members only expressed preferences for the site on the Kirkwood campus or the one near it.

The Kirkwood site is located on 76

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Avenue SW east of Kirkwood Boulevard SW. The site near the college is located west of C Street SW and just south of Highway 30 along Bell Drive SW. And the third site is at Jacolyn Drive SW and 16

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Avenue SW.

All are empty lots with owners willing to permit the city's Animal Care and Control operation to be located on the property, Scott Olson, a commercial Realtor who is helping a city consultant on the project, told the advisory committee.

Olson added that both the Kirkwood site and the Bell Drive SW site have covenant issues that will need to be resolved before a shelter can be located there.

Olson said the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will help fund the new shelter to replace the city's flood-ruined one, will want the city to own the land on which the shelter is built. He thought Kirkwood would be willing to sell the site on its campus to the city with the provision that the college is able to buy it back if the use on the site changes.

The City Council now is scheduled to approve the advisory committee's action at the council's Oct. 12 meeting.

Nicholas Ruden, project manager for Ryan Companies US Inc., said the plan is to provide FEMA with the benefit-cost  analysis on the three sites by the first of November. FEMA's review will identify the least-cost site, and that cost is the amount of money that FEMA will provide to the city no matter which site the City Council finally chooses. Ruden said FEMA's decision could come by the end of November or early December.

Ruden said FEMA will also conduct a benefit-cost analysis on the former site of the city's animal shelter on Old River Road SW, but Ruden said the old site, which would require the raising of roads, is not cost-effective.

Ruden said a “stakeholders group” did preliminary work on finding a site, and initially came up with 16 prospects. The list then was whittled down to six, and Ryan Companies' review resulted in the recommendation of three sites. The Site Selection Advisory Committee on Friday agreed with Ryan's recommendation.

The stakeholders group was looking for a spot that was at least three acres in size, was closer to the center of the city and was near main thoroughfares. The group also evaluated sites based on public visibility, ease of access, neighborhood compatibility, topography and current tax-assessed values.

At the meeting Friday afternoon, Tammy Stern, the advisory committee chairwoman, suggested that one of the three finalist sites, the 16

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Avenue SW one, could add to the operating cost and efficiency of the shelter because of all the traffic lights on 16

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Avenue SW.

Some on the committee liked the Kirkwood site, some the Bell Drive SW site, and some both sites.

City Council member Don Karr, a committee member, noted that Linn County has decided not to participate in funding the new shelter. City Council member Kris Gulick added that the county's participation could change in the years ahead.

Committee member Craig Rathje said he hoped that the city would make sure it purchased sufficient land so the shelter could expand in the future.