Southold renews North Fork Animal League’s contract to run shelter
The North Fork Animal Welfare League has been awarded a new four-year contract to run the Southold Town Animal Shelter.
The Southold Town Board voted unanimously to approve the contract at its Tuesday afternoon board meeting.
The town came under fire late this winter after it put out a request for proposals to operate the shelter while in the midst of negotiations with the Animal Welfare League, which in 2008 had been awarded a three-year contract to run the shelter.
Though Animal Welfare League proponents packed Town Hall in mid-February demanding the town’s reasoning behind issuing the request for proposals, Town Board members said at the time that they were simply executing due diligence in determining whether the Animal Welfare League was giving the town the best deal.
The non-profit group’s supporters said, however, that the Animal Welfare League only charged the town just more than half of the $376,780 cost to run the shelter in 2010, raising $179,000 from private donors.
The Animal Welfare League received $197,390 from the town for the contract period beginning April 1, 2010 and ending March 31, 2011. In the midst of negotiations, the town extended that contract by two months in March of this year.
The new contract, beginning June 1, 2011, will authorize the town to provide $205,000 for the operation of the animal shelter this year, $211,150 the following year and $217,484 for the following two years, ending May 31, 2015.
