Dog Fight over Town Lake Animal Center

Fissures within City Council over the future of the Town Lake Animal Center could become serious rifts with two rival items on the agenda for this Thursday's upcoming meeting.

61 . Approve a resolution directing the City Manager to report to City Council all available options regarding a new Animal Shelter and to refrain from taking any action regarding the animal shelter without direction by Council. (Council Member Mike Martinez, Council Member Jennifer Kim )
62 . Approve a resolution designating the location for the new animal center and directing the City Manager to proceed with planning for the facility. (Mayor Will Wynn, Mayor Pro Tem Betty Dunkerley)

So what do those resolutions say?

Well, the Kim/Martinez faction are asking to throw out the current plans for the $12 million replacement for the animal shelter, because the council never actually approved them. They want the entire planning process to re-start, with a full briefing on the site selection criteria, a complete list of all city-owned vacant and surplus property, and, possibly most significant, proposals for renovating the current site.

Over in the Wynn/Dunkerley camp, they say the Bond-Election Citizen Advisory Committee, the Bond Oversight Committee, and the council have all looked at this enough, and it's time to just break ground at 7201 Levander Loop.