The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor City council threw the SPCA a bone Tuesday, approving a long-awaited animal shelter off the Perimetre Highway. Members of the animal-advocacy organization broke out in applause after council voted unanimously to grant a conditional use permit for the project. "It's time that you had a home," Coun. Colleen McKee told the 13 SPCA members on hand to show their support. Construction is expected to begin this year, with the SPCA hoping for completion before 2012. "We are overjoyed," said SPCA vice-president Judy Eagle. "It's been a long time coming and now we can move forward into our next steps of getting our permanent home for the SPCA built." The vote ends a years-long effort by the SPCA to secure a facility that will serve not only as a shelter, but also as an office complex and headquarters for the organization. The steel building will go up at the corner of the Perimetre Highway and the Cliff Lake Road, near the old museum site. The precise dimensions have not been finalized, but Eagle said the hope is to erect a facility standing roughly 30 feet by 50 feet. It will not be "huge," she told council. For the second consecutive council meeting, Eagle urged council to quickly okay the conditional use permit, which had been the final obstacle for the facility. See 'New' on pg. 7 Continued from pg. 1 While the project generated nowhere near the controversy of the SPCA's last proposed shelter site on Golf Road, some concerns were expressed. Leslie Beck, who lives on Alder Ave. near the chosen site, attended the council meeting to ask whether noise and smells would be an issue. SPCA President Debbie Hiebert noted that the facility will not include outdoor dog runs and will be bound by city noise bylaws. Eagle said the building will be "very well insulated." Hiebert, who owns a large kennel near her house outside city limits, said noise is such a non-factor for her that she can easily sleep with her windows open. In terms of odour, Hiebert stressed the SPCA is bound by city bylaws as well as provincial laws. She said provincial veterinarians will have to license the facility, and that won't happen if the building is dirty, run down or stinky. Beck also had questions as to whether the intersection near the site could handle the extra traffic, mentioning the industrial businesses that operate further down the Cliff Lake Road. Hiebert said the province would have never granted the SPCA a Crown lands permit if there were traffic concerns, while Eagle said the building will not significantly add to the present traffic volumes. Prior to council's vote, Eagle spoke on what she sees as the spin-off benefits of the facility. She said she expects the SPCA's volunteer pool will grow once it has an accessible headquarters, as it will be able to operate "in a very cohesive fashion." "We also are committed, as always, to being good neighbours in the community," she added.8/4/11
