Mahoning commissioners award contract for new county dog pound

June 3, 2016 at 12:07a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County commissioners have awarded more than $3.1 million in funding for several phases of building a new county dog shelter, which will replace the 40-year-old shelter and adoption facility on Industrial Road on the West Side.

During their meeting Thursday, commissioners awarded $3,166,410 to build the 14,212-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility at 1230 N. Meridian Road. Local union contractors and the amounts are:

Vendrick Construction Inc. of Brookfield, $2,366,700, general construction.

University Electric Inc. of Youngstown, $355,000, electrical work.

The Conti Corp. of Lowellville, $238,800, plumbing.

D&G Mechanical Inc. of West Middlesex, Pa., $205,910, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning.

In March, 22 bids were received for the project, and the work came in $482,555 under the original $3,648,965 architect’s estimate, noted James Fortunato, county purchasing director.

“It is sorely needed. It will be a showcase for the community,” said Helen Durflinger, owner of Liberty Township-based Copich Architects Inc., the project’s primary architect.

The shelter, which is expected to break ground next month, will offer an exercise area for the animals, additional space overall and a section to isolate animals with kennel cough, parvo and other diseases so as to minimize the spread of disease, noted Rick Tunison, kennel manager.

Tunison, who’s also a licensed veterinary technician, added that such attention to detail likely will make the animals easier to adopt.

In addition, the shelter will be able to house 80 to 90 dogs, compared with the current facility’s 50- to 60-dog capacity, Dianne Fry, county dog warden, has noted.

“It certainly is a necessity,” Fry added.

In other business, commissioners authorized the establishment of an Area Agency on Aging 11 fund to administer $4.1 million that is the result of a 1-mill, 5-year senior-services levy that voters approved last March.

Collections should begin early next year, with services likely to start in mid-2017, after the year’s first property-tax collections, noted county Auditor Audrey Tillis.

Services include home repair and maintenance, adult day care, personal and protective care, guardianships, medication management and home-delivered meals.

Also at the session, county Engineer Patrick T. Ginnetti announced three road closings later this month for culvert replacements before paving: Truesdale Road between Lockwood Boulevard and Sheban Drive in Boardman between June 13 and 15; Shields Road between Tippecanoe and Messerly roads in Canfield, also between June 13 and 15; and Shields Road between Messerly and Salem-Canfield Road (U.S. Route 62) in Canfield between June 16 and 20.