CM-07-05-073Texas Municipal League
City -County Cooperation Award 2007
The Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter
Submitted in Fulfillment
Required for Application of
City -County Cooperation Award 2007
By
Darlene Brown
Lieutenant, Support Services Bureau
Cedar Park Police Department
Cedar Park, Texas
May 2007
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County Cooperation Awa rd
Cooperation, Collaboration, Cohesiveness
The Texas Municipal League (TML) and the Texas
Association of Counties (TAC) recognize the importance
of interlocal cooperation. The City -County Cooperation Award
program is designed to recognize Texas cities and counties
that are working together to meet the challenges of
local governments. Innovative problem -solving, excellence
in management, increasing citizen participation, and
reaching toward higher service levels are all examples of
the ways cities and counties are working together.
This awards program seeks the best of these programs for
public recognition. It is through the recognition of the best
of the best that all Texas cities and counties can share and
learn from these achievements. Local government in Texas
is the best in the nation and deserves recognition!
The competition is designed to allow joint city -county
projects to compete with other similar projects
throughout the State of Texas.The awards program will
focus on joint projects that encompass a wide variety
of innovative, intergovernmental approaches to city
and county government management.
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Application Process
The awards program is open to all members of the Texas
Municipal League and the Texas Association of Counties. One
nomination can be submitted for each city -county project.
Entries must describe programs or projects brought to
conclusion or showing significant results between
November 1,2005, and May 1,2007.
To nominate a project, please submit five copies of a
typed or legibly printed document providing the following
required information.This document will serve as an official
application:
1. Name of the city
Name of the county
Population of the city
4. Population of the county
5. Title of the project
Description of the project, which must answer all eight of the
following questions and be limited to 1,200 words or less:
• Why was the project needed?
• How did the project accomplish its goal(s)?
• Who benefited from the project?
• What was the level of cooperation between the city and
county?
• What time and/or money were saved as a result of the
project?
• What time and/or money were spent on the project?
• How has the project improved the quality of service and/or
livability of the community?
• What future impact will the project have on the community?
Signature of the chief elected or appointed official of the city
8. Printed name of the chief elected or appointed official
of the city
9. Signature of the county judge
1 fl Printed name of the county judge
1 Contact person's name, title, phone number, and e-mail
address
Additional information—artwork, brochures, photos, media
clippings, videotapes, DVDs, and other similar material—
may be submitted but is not necessary. Before
submitting videotapes and DVDs, please check them for
quality of picture and sound. All material submitted with
each entry becomes the property of the Texas Municipal
League and the Texas Association of Counties and will not
be returned.
NOTE: As a reminder,five copies of the application and
accompanying materials must be submitted.
TML
TEXAS
MUNICIPAL LEAGUE
Award Application Deadline
All entries, including any additional material submitted, must be
received in the TML office by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 4, 2007.
Entries can be mailed or shipped to:
TML City -County Cooperation Awards Program
1821 Rutherford Lane, Suite 400
Austin,Texas 78754-5128
Faxed applications will not be accepted. Entries, including
additional material, will not be returned.
The Texas Municipal League and the Texas Association of
Counties—as well as their staffs, officers, and Boards—will not be
responsible for any lost, delayed, or misdirected award applications.
Judging Process
Entries will be screened by the staffs of TML and TAC for
completeness. Any entries deemed incomplete will be excluded
from consideration.
Final judging will be conducted by an independent panel of
judges with considerable experience in the area of city and
county government.The judging will take place in Austin and
will be closed to the public.
Judges will be asked to evaluate the following aspects of
each entry:
• Is the application complete,and is all the required information
provided?
• Is the project innovative?
• Did the project achieve its goal(s)?
• What is the long-term value of the project?
• Can the project be adopted by others?
Announcement of VVinners
All winning applicants will be notified on or before June 15,
2007.The winners will be featured in a future issue of both
Texas Town & City magazine and County Magazine. In addi-
tion, the winners will be recognized at:
(1) the Texas Municipal League Annual Conference, which will
be held November 7-10, 2007, in Dallas; (2) the Texas
Association of Counties Annual Conference, scheduled for
August 15-16,2007, in Austin; and (3) the Texas Association of
Regional Councils Annual Conference (the Texas Conference
on Regionalism), to be held September 5-7, 2007, in Austin.
Additional I nformatior W
Additional information about the City -County Cooperation
Award can be obtained by calling Karla Vining in the
TML office at 512-231-7400 or Karen Norris in the TAC office
at 512-478-8753.
1. Name of the Cities: City of Cedar Park, City of Hutto, City of Leander, and
City of Round Rock
2. Name of the County: Williamson County
3. Populations of the Cities: City of Cedar Park - 47,751; City of Hutto -
17,000; City of Leander - 24,500; City of Round Rock - 89,685.
4. Population of the County: Williamson County - 385,830
5. Title of the project: The Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter
6. Description of the project:
In September of 2004, Williamson County began an extensive search to
improve the level of service to the entire county and find a fiscal minded solution
to an animal shelter. Once the county began conversing on the issue, several
other cities in the county also recognized the need for their cities and joined in to
discuss a Regional Animal Shelter. After the first initial meeting, each entity
realized the improved level of service that could be accomplished for less
financial impact to each of the entities. As the meetings developed, Williamson
County had agreed to proceed with creating the Williamson County Regional
Animal Shelter and partnering cities would include City of Cedar Park, City of
Hutto, City of Leander, and City of Round Rock.
Williamson County has experienced a huge growth in the past ten years.
One of the areas that were in need of focus and attention was the Animal
Services Division. Williamson County did have Animal Control Officers, but the
Officers were relying on a non-profit group, the Humane Society of Williamson
County, to assist with sheltering the animals. They were also relying on the
Humane Society for spay/neuters of pets, adoptions, and registration of the
animals in the county. Williamson County had little input and they did not have
access to a database to show owner's information for any lost pet they located.
Williamson County also did not have participation in increasing adoptions or in
education events with the Humane Society that would benefit the community.
At the beginning of the meetings, the City of Cedar Park had an animal
shelter. The shelter was recognized as being inadequate for the growth rate of
the city and in need of repair. The City of Cedar Park's population had almost
doubled in seven years and was expected to increase even more in the future.
The shelter did have over 30 kennels, but did not have an open lobby area
needed to provide effective customer service and was very unwelcoming. The
shelter also did not have any rooms for customers to meet potential animal
matches to see if they were compatible. The facility was also located off of the
roadway behind the old police department that had been vacant since 2003.
Even with adding additional signage, few customers came into the shelter and
the adoption rate of 8% was dismally low. The city began to explore options of
building a new shelter, but faced the financial reality that a new shelter that would
fit the needs of the city would cost approximately $800,000. The City of Cedar
Park also recognized the time, energy, and effort it would take to staff and
manage a shelter. The Regional Animal Shelter would give the city an
opportunity to focus on improved patrol and services in the neighborhoods to
address vicious, lost, and stray animals and was promising as it offered an
opportunity to share in the capital and operating costs.
The City of Hutto is the second fastest growing City in the State of Texas
according to CAPCOG and the City of Hutto recognized with its rapid residential
development, it was imperative that the City hire a professional to assist in
providing animal-related services to its citizens. The City of Hutto hired its first
Animal Control Officer in December 2005 and created a small outdoor facility to
house six canines and an indoor facility to house four felines. With its explosive
growth, the City knew its existing animal shelter was temporary at best and would
not be sufficient for the increasing demand for animal-related services. The City
of Hutto embraced the concept of developing a partnership with Williamson
County and the Cities of Round Rock, Cedar Park and Leander to serve the
region with a state-of-art regional animal shelter facility.
The City of Leander began looking towards the Regional Animal Shelter
as a solution for animal impoundment. Leander had an existing animal shelter,
but the facility was located near an area that would experience neighborhood
growth in the coming years and would interfere with the resident's expectation of
a quiet community. The outdoor facility, with a limited number of kennels, was
also not customer friendly and lacked an area for potential clients to visit with the
animals for compatibility. The City of Leander also recognized the duplication of
services they would have if Williamson County built their own facility.
Participation in the Regional Animal Shelter also began to peak the
interest of the City of Round Rock. Round Rock had a large, growing community
as well, but lacked an animal shelter. The city had a contract with the Humane
Society of Williamson County. Round Rock recognized that they had little or no
control over spending, nor of the quality of services provided to their citizens.
Round Rock did not renew their contract with the Humane Society and instead
contracted with the neighboring City of Pflugerville for temporary space in their
shelter, but needed to staff to handle adoptions and redemptions of the animals.
With the growth in the area, Round Rock recognized the need for Pflugerville to
allocate the entire space for their own needs and Round Rock to explore other
options for housing their animals. Round Rock also explored building a facility of
their own to serve the residents in their community. The total estimated cost to
build would exceed $3 million and had many of the services that would be
duplicated by a Regional Animal Shelter.
The entities of Williamson County, Cedar Park, Hutto, Leander, and
Round Rock acknowledged a partnership in the Regional Animal Shelter. This
shelter would provide an expected and higher level of customer service that
matched the needs of all of the cities and county and would provide better levels
of care for animals. The goal of the partnering entities was also to create an
efficient facility with an enjoyable and safe environment for all Williamson County
residents and animals, but also be fiscally responsible for all parties involved.
From the first meeting in September 2004, many meetings and subcommittee
meetings were conducted to accomplish the goals of determining the needs for
the facility and creating a Regional Animal Shelter that all would be proud of.
Each entity was able to have a hand in each phase of the project and to
communicate any concerns and suggestions. On November 15t, 2006, the
Interlocal Agreement was signed by each entity.
The Interlocal Agreement established a Board that would review and
oversee the operations of the Regional Animal Shelter. It also established a true
partnership where each entity has a representative on the Board and each
representative must be present when approving budget, personnel or
amendments to the Interlocal. The level of cooperation and input on the project
has been astounding. Each entity has full contribution and involvement in the
project and has participation in the Board that determines if any changes are
warranted. This partnership not only benefits the Cities and County in providing
a higher level of service to the community and animals, but also provides a
fiscally responsible use of tax dollars in reducing the amount of services that
would have been duplicated if each entity built and staffed their own facility. It
also provides a central location for the services throughout the county and allows
each entity an opportunity to focus their efforts on neighborhood services within
their community to protect the public from loose, vicious, or stray animals and
making the county a safer place to live.
As a result of the hard work, extensive time and research from each
agency involved, the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter opened to the
public on Tuesday, March 13th, 2007. The total cost of the facility was an
estimated $3.9 million with the establishment of plans to proceed with a
secondary phase for future expansion. The operating budget of the Regional
Shelter for the first year of operation is estimated to be approximately $600,000,
but does not include any revenue the shelter brings in from animal adoptions and
services provided. Due to the high rate of growth in the area, each individual
entity expected to invest at a minimum $800,000 - $1 million each in capital cost
into a shelter that would be adequate for their growing cities. This cost factor did
not include the staffing, operation of the facility, or consideration of duplication of
services between each agency.
In the future, the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter is expected
to maintain with the growth and demands of the community. New programs are
being initiated to assist in providing low cost services for spay/neuter, rabies
awareness, and health education for animals in Williamson County and
participating entities. A future program of a county -wide registration program is a
consideration to increase awareness in pet owner responsibility and give owned
animals a better chance of being returned to their home if lost. With the Regional
Animal Shelter's focus on the health and welfare of the animals in the shelter,
each of the entities will be able to improve their level of services to their
community. This will able them to also conduct public education on responsible
pet ownership as well as work with the Regional Animal Shelter on initiating new
innovative programs for the entire county on animal welfare.
7, 8. Signatures and printed names of the chief elected or appointed
officials of the cities
BRENDA EIVENS
ED BROUSSARD
City Manager - Cedar Park, Texas City Manager — Hutto, Texas
ANTHON 'JOHNSON
NUSE
City Manager — Leander, Texas Manager - Round Rock, Texas
9, 10. Signature and printed name of the County Judge
DAN GATTIS
County Judge — Williamson County, Texas
11. Contact Person: Darlene Brown
Lieutenant, Support Services Bureau
Cedar Park Police Department
(512) 259-3600 ext. 237
brownca cedarparktx.us
12. Additional Information:
Please see attachment for article:
Best Friends Network. (2007, April 17) April pet showers bring happy dogs
and cats. Retrieved April 20, 2007, from
http://network.bestfriends.org/texasinews/14152.html