Animal complex

tops county projects
By Scott Nicholson

Watauga County’s capital improvement list is staying locked in place despite the tight budget year looming, with a new animal-control facility as the top priority.

County officials presented the capital improvement plan to the commissioners during the annual planning retreat last week, with facility needs unchanged though dollars will likely be scarcer in 2009-10.

County manager Rocky Nelson said the animal-control facility is at the head of the list, with the county planning to renovate a former maintenance facility at the solid-waste transfer station. The Watauga Humane Society had approached the county about contracting to house county-controlled animals, but those negotiations appear to have stalled. The Humane Society was seeking an advance and an annual fee to house and feed animals, planning to use the money to help construct its own facility on Old U.S. Highway 421.

About $7.2 million worth of projects is in the CIP for 2009-10. The CIP is adopted annually and lists projects five years into the future.

The maintenance-shop renovation is expected to cost $440,000 and half of the money was budgeted this year.

It will have 4,000 feet of floor space for kennels and offices for the Animal Control Department.

It will house 18 dogs and 22 cats and also have a quarantine area for four animals. The facility can be expanded slightly to hold more animals.

Parks and recreation director Stephen Poulos also presented information on the state of the county pool, which opened in 1975.

In 2004, the commissioners budgeted $333,000 for a renovation designed to extend the useful life of the pool, eliminating the diving well and converting it to a training pool.

The pool has about five years in its expected life span, necessitating a decision on whether to build a new pool. The county has discussed allowing the YMCA or outside agencies to provide a community pool.

It employs 20 to 40 seasonal employees and gets between 27,000 and 39,000 swimmers per year.

A community-use recreation center remains in the plans, with $2.5 million budgeted this year and next toward a total cost of $15 million.

The facility is proposed to have a pool, indoor and outdoor tracks, exercise space, and classrooms, as well as housing the parks offices.

A community center for the eastern portion of the county is still on the drawing board. A 7,000-square-foot facility and four acres of land is projected to cost $1.97 million and would be designed to provide senior programs and community services.

The Western Watauga Community Center in Sugar Grove serves congregate meals and provides home-delivered meals, and needs more space for classes and community meetings.

The Project on Aging began a home-delivered meals program in the eastern end of the county in 2007, though the route was dropped in 2008.

A new county office building is also in the long-term plans, with $4 million accumulated through 2012-13.

The two-story structure is planned for the Human Services Center compound on West King Street.

The building would provide space for the Planning and Inspections Department and Tax Office.

The county also faces a decision on the fate of the current AppalCART station on Winkler’s Creek Road.

AppalCART is constructing a new $6 million facility on the N.C. 105 Bypass and Watauga County owns an 18 percent share in the current facility.

The county could either sell its share or buy the entire property, though an appraisal is expected first.

The county currently has $6.6 million in its capital-reserve account, money budgeted for future construction projects. The largest amount is set aside for the new high school, which was budgeted at $3.9 million this year and has a current balance of $2.2 million.