Item 05: Maintenance & Repair Contract - San Marcos Animal Shelter

[COSM_Admin]

Consider approval of Resolution 2021-164R, approving a contract with Alpha Building Corporation through the Texas Buyboard Purchasing Cooperative for maintenance and repairs at the City of San Marcos Animal Shelter in the amount of $240,047.55; authorizing the City Manager or his designee to execute the contract on behalf of the City; and declaring an effective date.

 

[JHughson]

Where will the animals be sheltered during this process?
Will the shelter be closed during the application of the epoxy so the staff isn't exposed to the smell?

 

[COSM_Admin]

Response to Mayor Hughson, provided by Greg Carr (Director of Neighborhood Enhancement):
Good questions! DerryAnn has had multiple site visits and communications with the vendor and collectively agreed on completing one “wing” of the shelter at a time, which will require a wing to be clear of animals and staff while the work is being completed. For this purpose, the three wings consist of the front building dog kennels, west side of the back kennel building, and east side of the back kennel building. When we clear a wing ahead of the work to be done, all animals will be out and the staff will do a final deep clean before turning the wing over to the work crew. Staff and animals will not return to the wing until the vendor has completed the work and all cure time has passed.

The timeframe provided for the vendor to complete the work is October 25th to December 17th to incorporate the time of year when our shelter isn’t as full, and during the time of year the doors can be opened to allow any product odors to dissipate quicker. Since the shelter is extremely full right now (actually at capacity for dogs), DerryAnn is working with the team on several upcoming adoption events. We are participating in the Clear the Shelters event and will receive extra promotion regionally through KXAN and NBCUniversal. While you should begin to hear about it soon, our big event will be on September 18th when we hope to make the most impact on our shelter space. Additionally, we are coordinating with a group of shelters everywhere from Austin to San Antonio for a Petco grant to cover advertising and adoption fees for a similar shelter-clearing event in October.

We have had some success by partnering with local businesses to co-host awareness and adoption events, and we will continue to do so. In fact, we attended the Chamber Business Expo to promote our business partnership opportunities. To assist in getting the word out, the Communications Department created a webpage with multiple ideas for businesses.

http://sanmarcostx.gov/3485/Business-Opportunities

 

[MDerrick]

1. Budget line item (Project C12 Animal Shelter) - many times we are told what the balance of a line item is after the approval of the expenditures, how much money will remain in this line item after the repairs are made – is this coming from general funds or from donations received by the shelter, or the overall shelter budget? I'm SO happy we have some money to do the bare minimum, but have any of our partner Cities increased their yearly Animal Shelter budget to support the many more needed repairs or general needs, such as a behaviorist?

2. I'm really happy to hear of the upcoming event on the 18th. How many times will the COMM Team announce the event and would they be willing to post on Advocate FB pages and Community News sites, so the event can be shared with those who don't follow CoSM online. The last time there was an event I was "told" but have not verified, that there was only one post made about the event a week prior and one the day before or the day of the event. I'd like to know the protocol, and if there is none, I'd like to discuss that.

Thanks!

 

[COSM_Admin]

Response to Council Member Derrick, provided by Greg Carr (Director of Neighborhood Enhancement):
1. The money we are requesting at this time was apportioned from CIP for all city projects. There is money left in the line item, but it would be for other city projects. I do not know that that amount is. The shelter budget process starts with the City of San Marcos. Once we determine (and gets approved through our budget process) what upgrades, positions or programs are going to be increased, our partners share in those costs. So it really all starts with us.

Response to Council Member Derrick, provided by Communications Team:
2. We have already begun notifying the community of the upcoming Clear the Shelters event scheduled for September 18. We’ve created an event page on Facebook to increase our reach on social media and updated the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter cover photo to promote the event date. At staff’s request, we have not begun to advertise specific adoption specials related to the event. Instead, we have at least four posts on both Facebook and Instagram planned over the next two weeks referencing the Clear the Shelters date and emphasizing the importance of clearing space year-round through responsible pet ownership, notifying the community of upcoming construction and repairs at the shelter, and encouraging the use of microchipping services. Staff has given us the green light to promote the Clear the Shelters adoption special beginning September 15. At that time, we will send out a press release and at least one specific social post on both platforms. We will also place flyers in some public-facing City facilities. Then, on the day of the event, we will update the event page with photos and videos, utilize Facebook Live, and post to Facebook and Instagram stories.