Mitchell Banks | The Tribune
The Jackson County Dog Shelter is located behind the Jackson County Jail at 150 E. State Road 250, Brownstown.
Mitchell Banks | The Tribune
By Mitchell Banks | The Tribune
BROWNSTOWN — Construction of the Jackson County Dog Shelter, which began in the fall of 2018, is nearing completion.
Jackson County Building Commissioner Conner Barnette took charge of the project last November and told the county’s three commissioners at their meeting Tuesday morning at the courthouse that there is minimal work left to do before the dog shelter can open its doors.
He said the only work remaining is electrical work, installing gates that will block dogs from leaving their kennels and finishing what’s left for the lift station’s installation. He said he’s looking into adding fencing to the top of some of the shorter kennels so large dogs cannot escape them.
Barnette said he expected work to be finished within the next couple of weeks.
Sheriff Rick Meyer said interviews had been conducted for the position of the shelter’s part-time manager, and he thought he found a good candidate with experience in
handling dogs.
At the commissioners’ April 5 meeting, Barnette said he had contractors lined up to finish the project, but weather had been preventing some from being onsite.
Commissioner Bob Gillaspy asked Barnette if he thought the dog shelter would be finished by May 1, and he said he thought it would.
The dog shelter was first approved by the Jackson County Board of Zoning Appeals in February 2015 after discussions about a possible dog shelter started in late 2014. It was to be built on county-owned land behind the sheriff’s department at 150 E. State Road 250, Brownstown.
The Jackson County Dog Shelter committee oversaw the project until October 2020 when the Jackson County Commissioners voted 2-1 to accept ownership from the committee.
Private donations have funded the majority of the project because commissioners initially said they would only take ownership if no public funds were used toward construction.
Barnette said Thursday afternoon that commissioners later appropriated $30,000 to finish the shelter in recent months.
He also said once it is complete, it will take about a month to move furniture and equipment in and get the manager in place.