Frisco's long-running animal shelter debate has a direction. At a Tuesday work session, City Council members settled on a $24 million building with room for about 61 dogs and 30 cats, choosing it over a smaller plan and a larger regional one, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The posted agenda listed the shelter as a discussion and update item, with no vote scheduled, so the choice gives city staff a path to follow rather than a final approval. City Manager Wes Pierson told the News that a design contract and an operating agreement would come back to the council soon.
Three options on the table
Staff brought the plan back after council members, at a Sept. 1 work session, sent it back for another look at its cost and at possible partners.
According to the News, the council passed on a $20 million version sized for 30 dogs and 30 cats. Staff projected that building would bring in about $31,000 a year in adoption and holding fees and said it would be too small to split with a second city.
The chosen design, at roughly 18,000 square feet, could generate about $559,000 a year, by the staff estimate.
"Another $4 million in capital cost gives us twice as many kennels and the freedom ... to tailor and pivot when necessary," council member Brittany Colberg said, as quoted by the News.
Members also turned down a $34 million regional shelter that Frisco would have shared with Celina, McKinney and Prosper. Angelia Pelham, a council member, warned that a facility that size could end up crowded, as the county shelter has been.
