The Jefferson city council will receive bids for construction of the Greene County animal shelter Sept. 9. The date is part of a resolution approved by the council following a public hearing at its Aug. 24 meeting.
Council member Dave Sloan, who was has been on a committee working toward the new shelter since 2017, said the final plan is “a pretty good plan, a size that works for us and we’re hoping we can afford.”
The engineer’s estimate for the building is about $740,000. That doesn’t include furnishings or equipment, but Don Orris, who has been working on the project even longer than Sloan, has raised money for those items.
The plans approved by the council following the public hearing call for a 3,000-square-foot building, three-fourths the size of the original proposal. The shelter will include a total of 11 dog kennels, with two of them for isolation of dogs just brought in. The original plan called for 14 kennels. The shelter will have room for 33 cats, with one less cat area than previously planned.
The building specifications include features that will allow for expansion should funding become available in the future.
It’s possible dirt work and the cement foundation may be completed at the site northeast of the St Joseph Cemetery yet this fall. Construction of the primarily-metal building will be done in the spring.
The council will open bids at its Sept. 14 meeting.
The council also directed city building and zoning coordinator Chad Stevens to proceed with building renovations at 105-107 N. Chestnut St. Work will include new roofs, demolition of second-story living space on one of them, new brick facades, and some new concrete flooring.
Cost is estimated at $275,000, which was included in a previous city bond issue. Stevens told the council he has heard from interested buyers of the building once the work is completed. It would be sold via a 10-year forgivable loan, as other reclaimed downtown buildings have been sold.
Aside from 200 E. State St, in which street level work is completed, 105-07 N. Chestnut St. is the building the city became owner of to ensure needed work would be done to preserve the building. “It’s been a long time with these buildings,” Sloan commented. “It’s been a lot of money.”
The council approved the appointment of mayor Matt Gordon to the Jefferson volunteer fire department. According to fire chief Jack Williams, the department had previously voted Gordon onto the department. Because Gordon is mayor, he will receive no stipend for serving on the fire department.
The council approved transferring about $13,000 from projects that have been completed or discontinued into accounts for related purposes. The largest amount included was $7,894 transferred from a debt service TIF fund into another specific TIF fund. The smallest amount was $7.17 going from a cemetery land reserve account to the general fund. City administrator Mike Palmer referred to the transfers as “housekeeping.”
During the open forum portion of the meeting, Linn Cipperley-Price of Animal Protection and Education, who has been assisting PAWS with trap-neuter-return efforts of feral cats, reported receiving $4,000 in grant funds for TNR. She mentioned two vacant multi-family residential buildings near HyVee and the storm sewer directly north of city hall as places feral cats are often seen. She asked for permission to trap cats near the sewer and for the city’s help in contacting the owners of the vacant buildings about abating the cats.
The Jefferson Matters: A Main Street and Chamber Community board gave its quarterly report, highlighting activities that have been previously publicized and noting upcoming activities. Deb McGinn, chair of the Tower View Team, told the council the west alley, north of Royal Jewelers, will be rehabilitated as “Imagination Alley” with a storybook theme. She announced an ekphrasis event involving local artists and poets is slated for Nov. 14 at History Boy Theatre. A Winter Festival will be held Dec. 11-12 at the Elks lodge in Jefferson.
