The Koochiching County Board and International Falls City Council are expected in the near future to support the relocation of the Borderland Humane Society holding facility currently located in the center of a construction zone.
“In order to move forward, we need to go back to the county and city to see if we have support to move forward,” said County Administrative Director Teresa Jaksa.
The holding facility, which is owned and managed by the city, sits on land owned by the North Koochiching Area Sewer District. Because of the age of the treatment plant and changes in regulation by state and federal agencies, updates and reconstruction are required for a new sewer district facility.
In May, officials told The Journal the holding facility is in the middle of a “a very dangerous situation.”
In order to establish an outcome in the best interest of the animals and BHS volunteers, a task force consisting of BHS volunteers and county and city officials was established to consider possible options. Jaksa said the first notion was to relocate the holding facility temporarily.
“We didn’t have a temporary location and we now know it needs to be something permanent,” she said.
Jaksa continued that an area of tax-forfeited land adjacent to Menards has been on the radar for a potential site, and that the acreage of the property would be ideal for a holding facility and a dog park.
At last month’s task force meeting, the group identified some possible costs to develop the land and to bring in an architect to design a new facility, according to Jaksa.
“(The task force) is still going back and forth on the size of the building, and county representatives will go back to committee and review the information,” Jaksa said. “The county board is supportive of this.”
She added that the board provides funding to the humane society annually and under state statute, the county has a responsibility to care for neglected animals.
“We’re going to give a one-time contribution to establish this facility and then it will be still owned and managed by the city,” Jaksa said. “After that, the board will continue to contribute to the humane society as established in the county’s budget.”
City Administrator Rod Otterness said he understands a recommendation is expected to be made to the city council next week to match funds contributed by the county for the project.
“The task force is working on this issue and has been making progress,” Otterness said. “The city council is in support of this project moving forward.”
Jaksa declined to release any “rough numbers,” however, she acknowledged that costs other than constructing the facility will need to be taken into consideration.
“To move forward, we need conceptual support from both bodies,” she said. “There are all kinds of reasons to support this, but in the end it will be about cost. We will need contributions from the humane society and private entities as well.”
