Funds have been appropriated and the Town of West Hartford will be constructing a brand new Animal Control facility next to the existing building at 34-38 Brixton Street.

The lot next to the existing Animal Control facility on Brixton Street will be the location of the new building. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ronni Newton

The West Hartford Town Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the reallocation of appropriations in its Capital Projects Fund in order to support plans to construct a brand new Animal Control facility on the same site as and next to the existing building at 34-38 Brixton Street.

The town had previously budgeted $2.2 million for a new Animal Control facility and had developed architectural plans, but the process of building the structure was delayed due to ongoing discussions about the precise location to coordinate with plans also in the works for a transfer station and new fire department training tower on the Brixton Street public works campus, as well as plans to construct a fueling station for town vehicles. For a time plans were in the works to relocate Animal Control down the street to property the town purchased in 2022 at 705 Oakwood Avenue and 12 Brixton Street, but last fall Town Manager Rick Ledwith confirmed that the new building would be constructed on the same parcel of land as the old building – a decision that was praised by many animal advocates in town who preferred the dead end of Brixton Street to a busier corner.

The lot next to the existing Animal Control facility on Brixton Street will be the location of the new building. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

The project was put out to bid last fall, and nine responses to the RFP were received. All bids were far in excess of the original $2.2 million set aside in the budget – with one as high as $6.2 million – and G. Donovan Associates, Inc., a Connecticut-based contractor and the lowest bidder at $4,247,000, was selected for the project.

“As the Council knows we had gone out to bid for the construction of a new animal control facility, and that bid came in at [close to] $4.3 million, which was significantly higher that the amount we had appropriated a few years ago,” Ledwith said at the March 11 Town Council meeting.

Reasons for the higher bids for the facility include overall post-pandemic increases in construction costs since the original estimate in 2019, as well as new state code requirements that are now in place that impact the HVAC system, segregation of facilities for all dogs and cats so that each has its own space, as well as special isolation areas, and staff amenities.

Ledwith said the town is in a position to move forward with the project with the Council’s approval of a reallocation of funds from the current year’s projects, and he recommended re-prioritizing projects to award the Animal Control facility bid.

The Council approve the use of $1.3 million from the town building improvements fund, $2.5 million earmarked for town-wide generators, and $231,947 that had been previously appropriated through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which will be added to funds set aside for the original animal shelter of $405,627.

“We will reappropriate town building improvements in our upcoming CIP plan. Regarding the generators, we have applied for two separate grants for this project and have been denied but heard back again from the state and there may be funds available to us if we were to scale back our request so our plan is to apply for a grant to fund a large portable generator that we could quickly move around town in the event that we need a generator,” Ledwith told the Town Council.

With the unanimous approval on March 11 of a resolution to reallocate the funds, Ledwith said, “We’re starting immediately.”

He told We-Ha.com a meeting with the contractors would be taking place this week, and he said he also expected the Town Plan & Zoning Commission to approve a Special Use Permit for the site at its next meeting.

New Animal Control facility. Town of West Hartford website (we-ha.com file image)

The existing Animal Control facility is roughly 1,000 square feet, and at 5,300 square feet the new facility will be more than five times larger than the current structure (gray outline at lower left in image above). The existing facility will continue to operate while the new building is being constructed, and when that’s complete, staff will move in, the old building will be torn down, and the driveway will be renovated. There will be plenty of parking for staff as well as the public, and several separate entrances including for animals that are being brought in and need to be isolated due to health or other reasons. There will be three spaces – with interior and exterior space – for dogs that are in isolation.

There will be covered exterior space at the new building, heated cement flooring, and dog runs in the rear of the building, where staff can bring dogs for exercise.

The facility will also have grooming and laundry facilities on site, and a large multipurpose room where the public can meet with animals for potential adoptions, and other events can be held.

Floor plan for new West Hartford Animal Control facility. Town of West Hartford website

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