Land transfer to aid Humane Society
Published 8:34 pm Thursday, December 19, 2024
Visitors stop by the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, after the Bowling Green city commissioners recently unanimously approved a quitclaim deed to transfer ownership of a little over three acres of land at 1925 River St. to the Humane Society for the expansion of its spay and neuter services. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
A litter of puppies snuggle up together at the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Bowling Green city commissioners recently unanimously approved a quitclaim deed to transfer ownership of a little over three acres of land at 1925 River St. to the Humane Society to expand spay and neuter services. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
The dogs at the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society watch as visitors around the facility on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Bowling Green city commissioners recently unanimously approved a quitclaim deed to transfer ownership of a little over three acres of land at 1925 River St. to the Humane Society to expand spay and neuter services. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Visitors stop by the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, after the Bowling Green city commissioners recently unanimously approved a quitclaim deed to transfer ownership of a little over three acres of land at 1925 River St. to the Humane Society for the expansion of its spay and neuter services. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
The dogs at the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society watch as visitors around the facility on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Bowling Green city commissioners recently unanimously approved a quitclaim deed to transfer ownership of a little over three acres of land at 1925 River St. to the Humane Society to expand spay and neuter services. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
The dogs at the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society watch as visitors walk through the facility on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Bowling Green city commissioners recently unanimously approved a quitclaim deed to transfer ownership of a little over three acres of land at 1925 River St. to the Humane Society to expand spay and neuter services. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Lorri Hare
Step two in realizing Lorri Hare’s vision for the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society was checked off by Warren Fiscal Court Thursday.
Following similar action taken by the Bowling Green City Commission earlier this month, fiscal court magistrates voted to deed to the Humane Society a 3.42-acre parcel at 1925 River Street that Hare, as Humane Society director, envisions as the future home for a much-needed expansion.
“The city and county had no plans to do anything with that property,” said County Judge-Executive Doug Gorman. “We both agreed to transfer the property to the Humane Society. Their growth has been amazing, and they do such a great job.”
The acreage, adjacent to the Humane Society and jointly owned by the city and county governments since 1984, was declared surplus property by the magistrates and transferred to the Humane Society.
It was an early Christmas gift for Hare, who has seen the Humane Society animal shelter reach “Code Red” status (full to capacity) six times this year.
“Our intakes continue to go up every single year,” Hare said. “Bowling Green and Warren County are growing so much, and almost every family moving here has pets.”
That is borne out by the numbers. Hare said the local Humane Society shelter is seeing about 11,000 animal intakes per year, a figure higher than even Jefferson County’s animal shelter.
Adoptions aren’t keeping up with the growth in intakes, Hare said.
“We’re having some days where we have 60 to 70 intakes, and 15 adoptions is a good day for us,” she said.
The land transferred to the Humane Society will address the problem, Hare said, not through an expansion of the shelter but through added capacity for spaying and neutering pets.
“Spaying and neutering is the only answer,” said Hare, who has been with the Humane Society for 25 years. “We have to get our overpopulation under control.”
Having the extra acreage, Hare said, will allow her agency to begin looking for grant funding for what she expects to be a $3 million project. She envisions growing from one surgery room to two and adding a larger recovery room, but it won’t happen overnight.
“Our goal is to start construction in two or three years,” Hare said. “Now that we have the property from the city and county, we can start a capital campaign early next year. We’ll definitely look for grant funding as well. We have a lot of hard work in front of us.”
Another item approved at Thursday’s meeting means county government will continue an association with grant writer Jennifer Schmidt that started in 2015. The magistrates approved a contract that will pay Alabama-based Schmidt Consulting $2,800 per month ($33,600 for the year) during 2025.
The contract is slightly higher than the $2,450-per-month contract with Schmidt approved last year, but Gorman said it’s a good investment.
“It has been a successful program,” Gorman said of the contract with Schmidt. “It has been a big help for us.”
Schmidt said her work has helped the county secure grants totaling $607,033 this year, primarily for the county’s volunteer fire departments, stormwater management, and emergency management. Since she started working with county government in 2015, Schmidt has helped procure approximately $8.6 million in grants.
Also approved at Thursday’s meeting:
- An expenditure of $14,000 to A-to-B Contracting for concrete work to be completed inside the maintenance barn at Ephram White Park.
- An expense of $9,533 to Crowd Control Company for 100 crowd-control barricades for use in the county’s new flag football program.
- A reimbursement of $3,000 to Infinity Pipeline for crane rental.
Thursday’s meeting was the last of the year for Warren Fiscal Court. Its next scheduled meeting is on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 at 9 a.m. in the county courthouse.
