By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
Lincoln County hopes to hold a groundbreaking ceremony in late June for its new animal control shelter in Waldport and have a Salem-based contractor moving dirt by mid-July.
If all goes well – not a given in any coastal construction project – the $5 million shelter in the Waldport Industrial Park could be open and operating sometime next summer.
County commissioners last week gave the go-ahead to award a construction contract to DSL Builders of Salem once its legal office and DSL agree on a proposed contract. Commissioners would still need to approve the final contract at some future meeting.
DSL, which has 85 employees and $30 million in annual revenue, is a well-known commercial contractor on the coast including numerous projects for the Lincoln County School District, Rogue Brewery, the Yaquina Head visitors center, the Newport Armory and construction of the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District’s station.
A county selection team reviewed three proposals from contractors and rated DSL the highest, beating out McKenzie Commercial of Eugene.
“We would have been lucky to have any of the three teams who responded (to the request for proposals),” assistant county counsel Brian Gardner told commissioners last week.
The county and DSL still need to work with Bearing Architecture of Portland to refine the estimate of costs and come back with a guaranteed maximum price. “That way the county knows exactly what the price will be,” Gardner said.
The county has $5 million budgeted for the new shelter and has already spent money on purchasing the two acres on Dahl Avenue in the industrial park, a geotech study of the property, and the architect’s work.
The city of Waldport has approved a conditional use permit for the shelter.
Initial plans call for a 5,000 square foot main building and parking for 22 vehicles. The building is planned to accommodate five full-time employees, five volunteers at a time, and have a capacity for 24 dogs and up to 60 cats, according to the conditional use application to Waldport.
It is the first of two phases, although the size and function of the second phase still has to be determined.
The county purchased the two acres last May after struggling to find a place to locate a new shelter after its longtime facility in Newport was forced to close in 2019 because of toxic levels of mold. It is now operating out of a small manufactured home and converted storage containers in Newport.
The county backed off locating the shelter at the Newport Airport after animal advocacy groups argued the site was too noisy and potentially dangerous. It formed a team to search for and evaluate potential sites, looked at more than 20 properties in Lincoln City, Newport, Toledo, South Beach and Waldport, ran 18 through its evaluation process and agreed the site in Waldport’s largely undeveloped industrial park off Crestline Drive was the best choice.
One of the criteria was that the shelter be located out of the tsunami zone – which limited choices finding suitable land and willing sellers.
I am all for this, and I wish them well. I have had previous dealings with the Newport shelter (bringing in an abandoned animal, and later adopting two kitties), and the staff was wondferful. I had no idea that the Newport shelter had gone through such terrible things. Best of luck to all in this wonderful endeavor.
I want to commend those that chose the building design. Too many organizations choose building designs with odd roof lines and jagged walls. This looks to be a straightforward design which will be less apt to have leaks with the roof, walls and windows. I call it a practical and efficient design. Huzzah!