Two unnamed donors have approached Gilmer County Chair Charlie Paris with a Christmas present for the county animal shelter, a donation of $200,000.
Paris told commissioners earlier in the month a donor approached him about donating $200,000 if the county would match the money.
At a special meeting Dec. 18, he told commissioners a second donor was matching the first donors offer of $200,000. Gilmer County was being asked to add $100,000, for a total of $500,000 to be spent on expanding, improving and equipping the shelter.
“The way the money is being leveraged, it is hard to turn down,” said Post Commissioner Hubert Parker.
An expansion would come with increased utility costs, but Parker wanted to make sure the donors understood it would not come with a major budget increase for the shelter.
Paris said an expansion was needed at the animal shelter, and sooner would be better than later.
“We are at maximum capacity for dogs,” he said.
An area was also needed to quarantine incoming animals especially cats which may have feline leukemia.
Office space has been transformed to accommodate current needs, so some would need to be added.
An agreement would need to be in place before the end of the year for tax purposes to account for the donation, so the board acknowledged there was an urgency in deciding about the donation.
“This is not something that we want to turn into some kind of albatross,” Paris said. “I want to do it right.”
Parker said he would like to see an agreement between the donors and the county before final approval, but was not opposed to making the budget change to provide the $100,000 for next year.
Paris said the money would come from the capital improvements budget.
Parker made the motion to set aside the $100,000. It passed unanimously.
As an aside during the discussion, Paris said another issue would have to be dealt with in the future.
“Right now the animal shelter can only accommodate dogs and cats,” he said.
He proposed reaching out to the Build an Ark organization for agreement to house any animals other than dogs and cats which came into the county’s control.
Paris estimated the agreement would cost the county about $15,000 per year.
It was tabled for later discussion.