City eyeing DPW building at Hyde Park for animal shelter
Apr. 24—Mayor Robert Restaino's administration is pursuing a plan to convert a building at Hyde Park into a new city dog shelter.
His critics are concerned the shelter effort is intended to help a vendor the city hired last year without a bid, under what the administration described as an "emergency" situation.
In his weekly address posted to the mayor's YouTube page on Friday, Restaino acknowledged that his administration is continuing to "move forward" with the creation of a shelter for dogs and plans for the redevelopment of "some areas" in Hyde Park.
He did not offer any details.
"There will be more information on that as it becomes more concrete, but you can expect that it's our intention to invest some money in remediation and also development in some areas of the park," Restaino said.
The Niagara Gazette confirmed on Tuesday that the administration plans to convert a yellow building located across from the Hyde Park Ice Pavilion into a long-term shelter for dogs.
Council Chairman Jim Perry described the project as being in its "initial stages of planning," adding that the city is working with a consultant — Clark Patterson Lee — as part of the process. Perry did not have a cost estimate for the building's conversion. He said the timeframe for the project is to have it completed by some time next year.
The city's current animal sheltering agreement with The Pit Chic on Grand Island has drawn criticism in recent months, in part due to its approval by a majority of city lawmakers last September under what Restaino said was an "emergency" situation that could not accommodate a formal request for proposals.
One of those critics, Niagara Falls resident and real estate agent Tanya Barone, fears the plans for the new shelter at Hyde Park are following a similar path, one that will lead to the city creating the shelter before turning it over to The Pit Chic to run.
"We're setting her up with a business," she said.
Perry said he expects the city will, at some point in the future, hire a private entity to manage the Hyde Park shelter. He said it is not a guarantee that the preferred vendor would be The Pit Chic. He anticipates the city will seek requests for proposals before entering into any management deal for the proposed new facility.
"There will be an RFP and whoever gets it will get it," he said.
While critics of The Pit Chic have also expressed concerns about the new shelter's location — inside a park near the entrance to the city's ice rink — Perry said there will be "safeguards" in place, including a fence around the building's perimeter, to protect the public and the dogs.
In general, Perry said he's supportive of the idea, noting that the city needs a long-term solution to what's been a consistent concern: caring for stray or abandoned dogs in city limits.
"You are going to get people who are going to oppose whatever the mayor wants to do but, to me, it's a very logical thing to do," Perry said.
Councilman Donta Myles said he was not aware of any plans for a new dog shelter at Hyde Park but he does have a lot of questions about the idea, including what it is going to cost.
He said his main concern is that the city does what the administration did not do when it entered into an agreement for animal sheltering with The Pit Chic last year, and that's solicit bids from potential vendors.
"I think we have to establish what business would be best before we make an investment in a building or rehabbing or remodeling a building," he said. "We need to make sure we have the absolute best business or organization or service provider for that space in that space."
