History of the APS shelter Sometime between July and December 2000 the APS Board restricted $396,000 from cash on hand for a "half-way house". A contract was signed on November 29, 2001 with an initial payment of $39,600 for preliminary work and preparing for the foundation. The Board ordered work stopped in March 2002 due to an "internal crisis". Work was abandoned and the excavation was later filled it in. Peloquin construction did the work. The contract was to put up the "shell". This would make the building (about 9,780 square feet) half done. The electricity, inside finishing, etc. would still need to be done. The reasoning was that with the building standing there, they could more easily raise the other half to get it open. The plans included a boarding kennel to help pay for operating expenses. APS had been assured by experts in corporate law that this was proper. The original building #12804 was issued on April 18, 2001 with a cost of $592,000 but further changes brought the cost to over about $795,000. The building permit expired October 25, 2002 In 2003, APS signed a new contract for about $550,000 for a completely different facility, claiming that APS had raised $350,000 (even thought that money had been on hand over three years before). They were advised by their new attorney (not an expert in corporate law) that they could not legally operate a kennel. Due to a faulty design, the plan shows 35 kennels 3 feet wide, too small for dogs. This is the current facility which now has half as many kennels as originally planned and constructed. APS evidently tore down walls to reduce the number of kennels and make them larger. The latest inspection report on July 27, 2007 shows 21 enclosures housing 14 dogs and 32 cats http://ncagr.com/vet/aws/Inspections/Orange_County/PrivateShelters/APSofOrangeCo7-24-07.pdf That report also shows that cracks have developed in the floors after only three years. Capacity of facility June 16, 2000 CH News 54-pen boarding kennel + 20 dogs 24 cats. July 10, 2003 CH Herald Laura Walters 50 dogs 35 cats. March 14, 2004 CH News John Wise 35 dogs 40 cats. July 24, 2007 State inspection report 14 dogs 32 cats Timeline May 1999 Coste estimate given September 1999 Plans started July 2000 Board restricts $396,000 from money on hand September 15, 2000 preliminary contract prepared but not signed April 18, 2001 health, Building permit #12804 $592,000 cost March 31, 2001 ground-breaking July-August? plans changed. cost $795,000 including boarding kennel November 29, 2001 New contract signed $396,000 for shell December 2001 down payment paid $39,600 March 2002 John Wise - "internal crisis" stop work order June-July 2002 contract canceled with loss of down payment October 25, 2002 building permit expired July 10, 2003 construction to "start in a few weeks" will house 50 dogs 35 cats with no boarding kennel March 14, 2004 John Wise - Construction has begun October 24, 2004 New shelter opened with only 21 enclosures --- Related news articles Chapel Hill News June 16, 2000 Blueprints for the new adoption center show room for 20 dogs and 24 cats. In addition, the plans call for a 54-pen boarding kennel, which APS hopes will help pay to run the new center. "The adoption center is going to need to have money to support it," said Wise, who chairs the APS committee that oversees the sanctuary. "Adoptions themselves really are not money-making. We hope to have a successful kennel that people will come to and patronize, and help us fund the adoption center." ---- Chapel Hill Herald July 10, 2003 Walters said the APS is in the process of building a "halfway home" in Mebane that will house about 50 dogs and 35 cats. The organization has raised $350,000 of the $500,000 it needs for the building. Construction should start in a few weeks and be fin- ished in five months. --- Chapel Hill News March 14, 2004 Construction crews have begun work on the site off Nick's Road a few miles west of Carrboro, said APS board member John Wise, who is overseeing the project. Construction of the $550,000 building is expected to take 20 weeks, Wise said. It has taken considerably longer than originally anticipated to get the building under way. But when it's finished, the 5,600-square-foot facility will have room to house some 35 dogs and 40 cats. APS plans to use the center to house animals that have been selected for adoption while they recuperate from spaying or neutering and are otherwise awaiting pick-up by their new owners. Animals that have been selected for adoption now stay at the shelter, occupying precious cage space, during the four- to six-day waiting period before they are ready to go home. "The primary goal is to free up space in the shelter," Wise said. "It's really exciting for us to have this moving ahead. The facility is going to be really nice, and we estimate that having it available will help us save another 300 to 400 animals every year. Construction was set to proceed in 2001 _ crews had actually begun pouring the footings _ when the board of directors reconsidered the plan. In light of a wobbly economy, Wise said, the organization decided it would be more prudent to scale down the size, cost and mission of the new center. So APS halted the project and reworked the concept, abandoning the boarding kennel idea to focus on the halfway home part of the project. "The board decided we didn't want to be in the kennel business," Wise said. "The price of that project was going to be quite high; with all the kennels and everything, it was running at about $1.25 million. We didn't feel at the time that the economy was such that we should go forward with that. So we stopped and went back and redesigned it with a different concept. We wanted to focus primarily on adoptions." ... Board member Kendall Page, who is coordinating the campaign, said the goal is to raise $1 million to cover building costs and operating costs for the first one to two years. After covering various pre-construction costs such as preliminary design work, architects' fees, advertising costs and county fees, Page said, the organization has about $180,000 of that total in hand. ________________________________________________________________ Laura Walters Chapel Hill Herald July 10, 2003 APS is in the process of building a "halfway home" in Mebane that will house about 50 dogs and 35 cats. ... The new facility -- where animals that have been adopted will be spayed or neutered and then stored a few days before heading to their new home. Construction should start in a few weeks and be finished in five months. The organization has raised $350,000 of the $500,000 it needs for the building. (It) should help improve disease control at the county shelter.