Commission OKs talk of shelter site

Columbia County Commission gave the go-ahead Thursday night for a master plan that would examine a possible move of the county's Animal Care and Control facility in Appling.

//

The commission voted unanimously to approve the consultant Urban Collage to proceed with developing a plan in the amount of $25,000 that would look at the possibilities of a more visible and newer facility. One possible location for the department, Commissioner Tommy Mercer said, would be just a short distance away from the current site off Columbia Road at the entrance road to the Columbia County Detention Center.

The Animal Care and Control office isn't visible from Columbia Road, and visitors must access it by a side road. The office, built in 1992, was recently in need of septic tank work.

Linda Fulmer, the Animal Care and Control department's director, has said that the facility could use more space for quarantined animals and that it might be cheaper just to build a new facility than to expand the current one.

As part of the master plan, the commission said the consultant would provide options on where a new Columbia County sheriff's "shoot house'' might be located.

A shoot house is a building in which police practice indoor tactical maneuvers.

The commission says the funds aren't available yet for the move of the Animal Care and Control facility, but the master plan will provide details on how such a move might be possible.