County’s animal shelter in Waldport almost ready to open after long search, construction and a few hiccups

By GARRET JAROS/Lincoln Chronicle

WALDPORT – Lincoln County’s long-awaited animal shelter in Waldport’s industrial park is just a few finishing touches away from opening.

The multi-million-dollar, nearly 5,000-square-foot building is spacious, well-lit and offers amenities including skylights above its 24 indoor-outdoor dog kennels – along with heated floors to keep the pooches cozy – multiple cat rooms, outdoor areas for socialization and meet-and-greets with visitors, a backup electrical generator and its own surgical facilities.

“We are in the middle of moving,” said interim shelter manager Lt. Jaime Russell of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. “We are bringing loads down every few days. But my goal is to have our team moved in by the end of the month. But we will not be open to the public Feb. 1 — I am hoping for the first or second week of March.”

Maintenance crews as well as information technology staff are still doing work inside the building and staff will need some time to learn new processes and procedures, Russell said.

The county struggled to find a place to locate the new shelter after its longtime facility in Newport was forced to close in 2019 because of toxic levels of mold. It has been operating out of a small manufactured home and converted storage containers.

A search committee looked at more than 20 properties and 18 evaluated in Lincoln City, Newport, Toledo, South Beach and Waldport before the two-acre site in the largely undeveloped industrial park off Crestline Drive was chosen and purchased from Dahl Disposal Service for $175,000.

The county secured up to $6 million to pay for land, architects, engineers, site preparation and construction with the initial hope of breaking ground in the fall of 2024.

Sheriff Adam Shanks said the new facility still falls within budget and that the delay in opening was due to a variety factors.

“Construction took a little longer, though they stayed on track really well,” Shanks said. “We gave them the leniency to pump the brakes a little on some final touches. Another big piece for us was waiting for furniture, which was delayed a month.”

There were also some change orders last year, Shanks said, as well as a shakeup with county staff, particularly the departure of county administrator Tim Johnson, who was the primary person overseeing the project.

There was also a delay in running a new sewer line to the 161-acre industrial park.

A bill in the 2023 Legislature, co-sponsored by Rep. Dave Gomberg, D-Otis, allocated $2.2 million in state economic development funds to run a sewer main from the intersection of Range and Crestline drives nearly a mile south to the industrial park.

“The sewer project definitely slowed us down,” Shanks said. “That was probably the primary. And that was just getting everybody on the same page, between the city, the private property owners, the Dahls, the school district. But everyone has been extremely supportive and worked really well and collaborative together. It was just getting everyone together and making it happen that was a drawn-out process.”

Bigger facility, more volunteers

The new facility, which Russell hopes to have open to the public five days a week, will be staffed with four animal care specialists, an office assistant and a manager.

A new shelter manager will need to be hired after former manager Sara Wynveen transferred into a community services deputy position.

“I think it’s been a grind frankly, over the last several years in the temporary shelter,” Shanks said. “Sara’s done a phenomenal job in keeping the team motivated and working in that environment, but it’s been a lot of work … and the temporary shelter was not conducive to an efficient or healthy working environment really. It’s hard.”

Volunteers will eventually be sought for the new shelter, but for now a list of people interested in volunteering is being compiled by staff.

The new shelter will allow staff to expand basic services – including more volunteers – but also to add its own veterinary services, with plans to eventually expand them for public use.

“We have a surgery area and we have a mobile vet in our community who is happy to come and perform spay and neuter procedures right here so we don’t have to get on the waiting list for local vets to get those done,” Russell said. “Which then allows us to get animals re-homed quicker.”

There have also been conversations about partnerships with Oregon State University’s veterinary school and thoughts about working with neighboring Waldport High/Middle School students to create an animal welfare program.

The shelter operates with a no-kill philosophy for adoptable animals, meaning it does not euthanize when space is needed and keeps adoptable animals until they find a home. The shelter does however, euthanize unhealthy and untreatable or dangerous animals.

Shanks said he is “super excited” about opening the shelter to the public.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “Our community has been extremely supportive. We searched countywide for locations and this ended up being the best location. And we are not only excited to serve this community but the rest of Lincoln County.”

• Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]