Foil: Your right to Know.
“Ambitious plans for opening a modernized countywide shelter for stray dogs, cats and other animals are beginning to formalize, although bumps remain.
Rockland Green, formerly the Rockland County solid waste management agency, informed the county of plans to lease, with an option to purchase, a 15,000-square-foot warehouse on Beach Road in Haverstraw. The warehouse would be refigured to house stray animals.
The Legislature has 45 days to respond to the potential purchase or lease, according to a Rockland Green letter to the Legislature Clerk Lawrence Toole.
At the same time, Rockland Green seeks to lease the dilapidated Hi-Tor Animal Center from the county and is negotiating with the Hi-Tor administration to continue running the shelter in 2023, until the Haverstraw site is ready, Haverstraw Supervisor Howard Phillips said. No costs have been determined.
Purchase: Rockland Green eyes buying Haverstraw warehouse for animal shelter
New plan: Replacing the Hi-Tor animal shelter takes shape; see details, how much it would cost
Rockland County punts: Hi-Tor animal shelter rebuild plan scrapped; what to know as towns take over
Phillips chairs the Rockland Green board, which also comprises the four other town supervisors, legislators and a representative from the County Executive’s Office. The supervisors took control from the county for development of a new shelter.
The state authorized Rockland Green to change its charter to operate an animal shelter at the request of the county Legislature.
By law, the towns are responsible for handling stray animals and the county allowed the shelter on its property off Route 45 in Ramapo across from the Rockland Fire Training Center. Plans for providing a modernized shelter have been in the works for more than a decade, as Hi-Tor survives on donations, modest town funding, and grants.”
Read the complete Journal News story here.
