PRESS RELEASE
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Melanie
Norton, Director of Public Relations
Office
(760) 839-7976 / Cell (760) 505-9893
CITY COUNCIL TO DECIDE ON HUMANE
SOCIETY’S
$1.6 MILLION REQUEST
Escondido,
CA--May 21, 2002—At 4 p.m.
tomorrow, the Escondido City Council will discuss and decide how much they will
invest into the Escondido Humane Society’s project to rebuild the shelter that
was destroyed by fire last year. On May 1, the humane society asked the
city to invest up to $1.6 million to help with preconstruction costs necessary
to make the land ready to build on.
City staff met with
Phil Morgan, executive director of the Escondido Humane Society, last week to
discuss how much they proposed to invest in the society’s project. Morgan
says, “I’ve been given an estimate of what the city proposes to assist us
with. I’m very thankful for what they have offered- a generous lease and
proposed financial assistance. They realize how important it is for us to reopen
and they’re doing their best to help us get there. Unfortunately, it
looks like we’ll still come up short on our preconstruction costs and will
likely have to cut back on the project. The building may not look as pretty,
but it will still house and care for the animals, it will still be safety
equipped and it will be capable of sheltering more than 6,000 animals a
year. That’s what’s most important. ”
The city has
proposed leasing a 7.5 acre plot of land to the humane society for $1.00 per
year. Since approving Phase I master plans on May 8, city staff has been
looking into money sources for the society’s financial request. The humane
society is short more than $1.6 million to complete preconstruction on phases I
and II of their project. The most costly of the preconstruction costs is
putting in utilities, developing the access road to the site, importing dirt
and demolition of the old site at Kit Carson Park.
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