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New Multnomah County Commissioner Meghan Moyer brought her construction management chops to work this week, questioning how cost estimates for a desperately needed new animal shelter reached a high of $70 million, or about $1,500 a square foot.
Moyer, who owned her own construction company before becoming a disability rights advocate and then commissioner, said the price was two or three times higher than she would expect in this market. Moyer said she understood an animal shelter needs specialized rooms and equipment, but the cost still struck her as high.
“As a former general contractor, I am a little sticker-shocked by that amount of money,” Moyer told county staff. “I’m unclear how we got to $1,500 per square foot.”
County chief financial officer Eric Arellano said he, too, had some “sticker shock” when he saw the estimates and explained that they included lots of contingencies because the project is in its early planning stages.
Commissioners discussed the shelter after a briefing by Multnomah County Animal Services director Erin Grahek, who described abhorrent conditions at the shelter, where animals are sometimes kept in offices and overflow rooms and space for almost all care is limited, failing standards set by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. She showed a picture of a bearded dragon in an aquarium in a hallway.
The county is mulling ways to pay for the new shelter. It has just $3.5 million so far. That money came from the sale of a pig farm at Edgefield. The rest could come from a bond sale that may have to be approved by voters, depending on the type of bond.