Pflugerville officials are crafting plans to upgrade the city's animal shelter and contemplating building a new one next to Lake Pflugerville.
Council members have prioritized improving the facility since they and the mayor narrowly voted against including an $8.1 million bond measure for a new shelter on the November ballot.
Council members who voted against the bond in August said the city's shelter does need improvement, either at its current location or a new one. However, they said city staff did not have a thorough plan on how to use the bond money.
City Council created an Animal Shelter Technical Advisory board in late August that includes City Manager Brandon Wade.
The advisory group has explored fixing short-term issues such as limited capacity, meeting state guidelines and revamping deteriorating office space. Group members also intend to address long-term problems such as improving the shelter's visibility, making it more inviting and finding a location with room for expansion.
Part of the land on which the shelter is located is on a floodplain, which limits expansion space, among other problems, Wade said.
"We don't want to build a bigger prison. What we want to do is build a shelter that is healthy and sanitary for the short stay that hopefully the animals will have there," Wade said. "The whole point is to hopefully get [the animals] placed in the hands of their next family."
The advisory group members considered several locations for a new shelter including the Randig tract near the Sorento subdivision, near the Wal-Mart on FM 685 and other sites, Wade said.
The group members decided Lake Pflugerville is the most desirable location for a new shelter because it would be more visible, which could increase patronage and pet adoption. The shelter would sit downstream from the dam on the northern side of the river, Wade said.
The city has contracted with Quorum Architects to create an upgrade plan for the current shelter. City staff will be working on plans and construction documents for the project for approximately two months, Wade said.
If a bond election is called, City Council will need to cheaply improve the current shelter in the interim period.
"The issue is that if [a bond election] is the direction we are going to go, we do have an immediate problem we need to fix," Pflugerville Mayor Jeff Coleman said.
The advisory group decided the best time for a bond election would be November 2015 if one were to be held. If that bond passes, a new shelter could be completed by January 2018, Wade said. If not, the city would build an additional pod structure that could hold more kennels at the current location, he said.
"The immediate concern is for the animals, the cats and dogs, and the capacity issues we are dealing with on almost a daily basis," Councilman Victor Gonzales said at a Sept. 9 meeting.
Upgrades to the current shelter could be complete by May 2015 at the earliest. If a new shelter were to be built, the old shelter would likely be demolished, Wade said.
1600 Waterbrook Drive, Pflugerville, 512-990-7387, Hours: Sun.–Tue., Thu.–Sat. 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Closed Wednesday
