Healdsburg Animal Shelter Open Community Forum is Tonight

The first of a planned series of monthly “community forums” with the members of the board will be held at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4.

The meeting will be for many a first look inside the new animal shelter on Westside Road, as it will be held in a small event room on the northwest corner of the as-yet unfinished building.

According to Bill Anderson, the newest board member and one of two co-chairs (the other being Sandra Versteegh), “Anyone is welcome to come, we’ll stay as long as we need to.

“And, other than personnel issues, we’re happy to talk about virtually anything,” he continued during an informal walk-through several weeks ago. “I think you’ll see over the coming months a lot of information being disseminated so that we really can now draw a line with the past.”

At the time, one of the predominant issues with that past was , but now another challenge confronts the community and the board – the state of the new structure itself.

In a letter to media including Healdsburg Patch, Anderson delivered the sobering result of an audit of the building’s structural problems, as evidenced by noticeable cracking in the concrete flooring.

 “The concrete floor throughout the facility is cracking, heaving and separating,” he wrote. “Of further concern is that the foundation, based on measuring recently cut bore holes, does not meet the accepted thickness of 6” slab on grade one would normally see in a commercial building.

“The good news is that an independent structural engineer feels the foundation is sufficient to bear the load of the building.

“The bad news is that the cracking will require approximately $300,000 to repair. Along these lines, the board has instructed our attorney to file the appropriate claims to recover the cost of the repair. This repair will have to be largely completed before we can commence the significant remedial interior work yet to be done.”

There are also concerns that the site of the building itself may be a source of problems, as it is apparently in a flood plain, within a stone’s throw of Dry Creek.

While Anderson last month expressed some concerns that “the county would have had to sign off on the compaction of the site before they issued a work permit,” in his commentary he suggests that may not be the entire problem. “The finished floor elevation would appear to be lower than what would be expected given the environmental conditions surrounding the site… This is presently being further reviewed for mitigation.”

Structural and engineering issues are only part of the problems confronting the in completing the new building, originally scheduled to open this spring. Anderson’s commentary outlines a number of design and functional flaws that present a daunting list obstacles, including:

• Insufficient air circulation in animal holding areas
• Drains in some animal holding areas but not others
• Lack of screened cat rooms necessary given their jumping abilities
• Non-sanitary work surfaces in food preparation areas
• No bulk food storage

He also cites “almost non-functional” canine kennels, stray intake facilities and outdoor socialization areas. “It is imperative that a modern shelter facility incorporate communal housing, so this area is being re-imagined ,” he writes.

"The approach of communal housing for animals is one of the foundations of private animal facilities such as King’s Kastle, he says.

"Existing professional staff at the animal shelter are of the opinion that the stray intake area is too small, smaller even that at the existing shelter; and there is no isolation facility, “the most basic component of any shelter facility,” Anderson said.

Taken together, it’s a sobering assessment of the state of the new animal shelter, but the board has apparently taken several proactive steps. Architect George Miers of Emeryville, who has extensive animal shelter experience, has been engaged to prepare an estimate of costs, and a peer review process is being planned before final repairs begin.

Finally, Anderson makes note of the fact that “the Board engaged an attorney and expert in construction coordination, on a pro bono basis, to investigate the past processes regarding the stability of the foundation.” Claims to recover costs of repairs and other mitigations are being explored as well.

Despite all that, the board’s goal, “verified as achievable by our consulting team, is to move into our new facility in the Fall… of 2012.”

Obviously there will be a lot to communicate, and discuss at the first community meeting on Wednesday.