Russell: Animal Shelter Contract Renewal is 'Just Business'

The North Fork Animal Welfare League is the group in the best position to be awarded a new contract to continue operating the Southold Town Animal Shelter, said Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell and members of the Town Board at a heated meeting Tuesday night.

The supervisor and board members addressed a room full of residents concerned that the Town is trying to force an unreasonable contract on the animal welfare league, the non-profit group that has been responsible for running the town-owned shelter for decades.

Town officials argued that the new contract addresses maintenence issues with the elaborate, year-old facility, and that a request for proposal that was issued four months ago went out to find a competitive entity with which to negotiate the new contract. Supervisor Russell described the move as due diligence to tax payers.

"This is just business," Russell said. "It's not about the welfare league or the animals — it's about the new state-of-art-building — the old contract just wont do."

Many audience members wondered why the board would want an unknown entity to come into a brand new building after years of excellent service from members of the welfare league. Russell agreed that the work from the welfare league is high-quality but that the non-profit group has not counter-offered on a successor agreement that Russell said he'd like to have in place by March 31.

Stay tuned for the full story and video on North Fork Patch.