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South Bend Redevelopment Commission <br /> Regular Meeting—May 24, 2011 <br /> 4. COMMUNICATIONS (CONT.) <br /> B. continued... <br /> animals. The kennel staff, that is available 7 days <br /> a week,year round, does its best to provide <br /> compassionate care for all the animals that find <br /> their temporary home at the shelter. <br /> Unfortunately,for the staff and for the animals, the <br /> current facility is extremely inadequate for the <br /> work that they do. <br /> Since we presented the project to you on February <br /> 19, 2010, there have been a number of issues that <br /> have impacted our progress on this project. The <br /> first delay came when the original bids for the <br /> project came in over budget. As a result, the bid <br /> specifications needed to be reviewed and revised in <br /> order to accommodate this issue. Next, the city's <br /> increased commitment to Leadership in <br /> Environmental Energy and Design, or LEED <br /> standards, required that we review and revise <br /> many of the building specifications. Sadly,for us <br /> and for the animals, these delays increased our soft <br /> costs (i.e., architectural and engineering fees). <br /> These delays bring us to today and the request you <br /> have before you. As a South Bend taxpayer, I <br /> appreciate the oversight and scrutiny your <br /> committee applies to these requests. We all need <br /> to be responsible stewards of the city's resources. <br /> The reasons I hope you will be compelled to <br /> support this request for additional funding are as <br /> follows: <br /> 1. SBACC manages over 4,000 animals each <br /> year. Due to the severely limited holding space in <br /> the current facility, we are faced with having to <br /> euthanize approximately 65%of those animals <br /> every year. Many of these animals are healthy, <br /> adoptable animals that we simply can no longer <br /> hold. <br /> 8 <br />