New animal shelter is back on track after Paso, Atascadero rejoin countywide plan

Plans to build a new San Luis Obispo County animal shelter are back on track with the cooperation of two North County cities that were threatening to drop out and build their own facility.

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an amendment to an agreement between the county and its seven cities to build a $14.5 million shelter near the existing facility northwest of San Luis Obispo off Highway 1.

The Paso Robles City Council voted to approve the amendment on Wednesday night.

Atascadero Mayor Tom O'Malley said council members will take up the amendment at their July 10 meeting.

North County splits from the agreement

Paso Robles and Atascadero leaders in October voted to withdraw from the agreement, citing the high operational costs of a new shelter and desire for local control over animal services as reasons to split from the plan.

"It's time for us — our city and Paso — to stand up to the county," said Charles Bourbeau, an Atascadero councilman, in October.

The county's current shelter was built around 1975 and is outdated and primarily equipped to handle dogs. The county Board of Supervisors in 2015 decided investing additional funds in the shelter wouldn't be worthwhile.

The North County cities' decision to withdraw from the countywide agreement threw the entire project into question. Estimates suggest the shelter will cost about $13 million, but cities may be required to pay up to $14.5 million.

Together, Atascadero and Paso Robles are responsible for about 33 percent of the shelter's cost — without them, other cities would have been forced to take on a more significant financial burden.

Supervisors John Peschong and Debbie Arnold, both of whom represent North County constituents, helped negotiate with the cities to bring them back into the agreement as the county scrambled to keep the plan alive.

Paso Robles and Atascadero explored the idea of building their own shelter and hiring a nonprofit — such as the Petaluma Animal Services Foundation in Sonoma County — to run the facility.

"When the boat looked like it was going to sink, we thought we might want to find our own boat," O'Malley said on Tuesday.

A new amendment

But, ultimately, the alternate plan wasn't much cheaper, and leaders were able to reach an agreement with the county that alleviated some of their concerns.

Under an amendment to the agreement, the county will pay the first $1 million of shared construction costs.

The cities and county will also share governance of the new shelter through an Operations Committee, the purpose of which is more clearly outlined in the amendment.

The county also agreed to reduce operations costs by 5 percent per year for the next five years by reducing animal intakes and total overnight stays, something O'Malley and Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin said was especially important.

"We need to get away from this culture of always increasing costs," Martin said on Wednesday.

Cost-cutting ideas include education campaigns, spay-neuter programs, proactive licensing and grants and donations.

The county will also conduct cost-benefit analyses related to services and present the findings to the Operations Committee.

O'Malley and Martin said withdrawing from the agreement and then going through a negotiation process yielded an agreement they can support.

"Paso Robles and Atascadero didn't really feel like we were being listened to and treated as a partner," Martin said.

This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 5:25 PM with the headline "New animal shelter is back on track after Paso, Atascadero rejoin countywide plan."