Architect to do study for animal shelter site Manalapan firm got $22K to survey vacant buildings for shelter BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer Woodbridge Township awarded a competitive contract to Michael V. Testa of Manalapan for his architectural design services for the long-awaited public animal shelter at last week's council meeting. The contract is in an amount not to exceed $22,300. "[Mr. Testa] will conduct a feasibility study of various vacant buildings in the township," said Township Business Administrator Robert Landolfi at the council meeting on April 10. "After we get the feasibility study back, then we can determine a viable project plan and unveil the plan to the public. This was a milestone that we have reached by awarding a competitive contract and now we can move forward." Testa was one of 11 architectural firms to vie for the $22,300 contract. For the past five years, residents have been waiting for the much-needed public animal shelter to be built for the homeless animals of Woodbridge Township. In September 2006, bids had gone out to build a state-of-the-art animal shelter behind the township health center; however, the bids had come in too high. "We have grossly underestimated the construction costs," Landolfi had said. "Even when we started negotiating with bidders, the estimation still hovered around a million dollars, which did not include the start-up costs." The lowest bid received in September 2006 was $1.046 million. The highest bid was $1.2 million, officials said. The township in 2004 estimated that constructing a new shelter would cost $350,000, and later, after extensive, in-depth research, decided to allocate approximately $750,000 for the animal shelter, which officials have said would include 18 dog runs, 40 to 50 spaces for cats, temporary cages and storage facilities. The township had conversations with Dr. Barry Adler, the co-owner of the Iselin Veterinary Hospital and staff veterinarian and director of the Woodbridge Veterinary Group, to lease space from him for a public shelter in the basement of the former Adath Israel Synagogue on Route 35. However, in February, after an uproar from animal advocates who said the synagogue was not the best place for the animals, township officials announced that they would not pursue the idea to lease space from Adler for the public animal shelter, but said they still believed the decision with Adler was the best idea that they had. From that point on, township officials were working on awarding a competitive contract for architectural services, which was awarded to Testa on April 10. In February, Mayor John E. McCormac announced that he would seek a budgetary rider to allow for the private donation of funds to assist in the care and housing of abandoned animals. The budgetary rider allows the township to establish a bank account for the deposit of privately raised funds dedicated to a specific purpose and the account is public and subject to independent audit. On March 6, the Township Council approved a resolution for the budgetary rider. Township officials have said they are still waiting for approval which could take up to eight weeks. Residents have been coming to the council and work session meetings every Tuesday to ask questions and receive updates on the public animal shelter. The current 30-by-40-foot shelter in Sewaren sits near old tank farms and a defunct arsenic-producing chemical plant. It houses cats and dogs in close quarters with one another. The shelter was only supposed to be a temporary fix five years ago, until the township could build a new shelter. In addition to the Sewaren facility, the township has also paid $38,100 a year to house four dogs and 15 cats in a 10-by-15-foot space in the office of Iselin veterinarian Ira Niedweski for more than four years. The township also spends an additional $12,000 a year on medical treatment for the animals. McCormac said the money that the township allocated for the animal shelter was from the township's proposed $1 million pistol range. The county proposed its own pistol range around the same time, so then-Mayor Frank G. Pelzman at the time decided to allocate the money for the animal shelter. Currently, the township has approximately $669,000 allocated towards the animal shelter due to costs endured during the bidding process in 2006. McCormac has said he does not want the animals to spend another winter in the Sewaren facility. He said his administration and the Township Council would continue to pursue appropriate options that have been, and remain, under consideration with the single goal of locating and providing an animal shelter that is cost effective, considers the needs of all township taxpayers and financial priorities, while at the same time allowing the humane care and protection of the animals. The township and the Woodbridge Animal Group [WAG] sponsored a spaghetti dinner fundraiser at the Woodbridge Elks on April 15 in support of public and private efforts to raise funds for the public animal shelter.