New animal shelter on the horizon for Pahrump

Animal lovers rejoice, Nye County is on the verge of moving forward with a project that the community has been clamoring for over and over again in recent years, a new animal shelter for the Pahrump Valley.

The long-desired project is finally on the cusp of becoming a reality, with the bidding process for the construction of the new facility currently underway and the Nye County Commission expected to award the contract for the job this October.

The decades-old building located at 1511 E. Siri Lane which comprises the current animal shelter may have once served the needs of the community quite well, but as the years have gone by and the population has increased, the shelter has simply become too small to keep apace with the growing demands of the town and surrounding areas.

Both Nye County Animal Control and the public utilize the animal shelter but with only a limited number of kennels, there is only so much space to go around. Periods of overcrowding have proven to be a problem and the building’s physical condition is no bright spot either. The shelter has seen its fair share of deterioration over time, creating challenges for Desert Haven Animal Society, which currently holds the contract to operate the shelter, as well as Nye County, which is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the aged facility.

Now, however, it appears that in the not-too-distant future, these issues will no longer plague the county and shelter operators. Instead, they will have a brand new animal shelter to enjoy, alleviating the concerns regarding both the facility’s size and its less than ideal condition.

At the moment, the county is in the midst of the bidding process, with contractors invited to submit bids for the construction project until next Thursday, when the formal bid opening will take place.

The original deadline for submitting a bid was set for Aug. 19 but that date was recently extended. According to Nye County Purchasing and Contracts Administrator Danielle McKee, the extension came as a result of delays in the site development plan and the soils report. Those are now taken care of and the new deadline for submitting bids for the Pahrump Animal Shelter construction project is Thursday, Sept. 10 until 1:30 p.m.

“Responses received after the deadline will not be honored, regardless of when postmarked or sent,” the county’s bid package information stipulates. “Response opening will commence at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 10, 2020 in the Nye County Finance Department…”

Following opening of the bids, the matter will be turned over to the Nye County Commission for a final decision. The bids are scheduled to be presented to the commission as part of its first meeting in October.

“It is anticipated that a contract will be awarded on or about Oct. 6, 2020 unless the Board of County Commissioners denies approval,” the bid package explains.

The project will consist of the construction of a steel building, complete with engineering, based on a conceptual drawing provided by the county. As detailed by the conceptual drawing, the new shelter will be around 14,000 square feet with an additional 2,600 square feet of open courtyard at the back of the building.

The conceptual drawing calls for two reception areas, one in the main lobby and another for the area dedicated to clinic activities. This area includes an evaluation room and two exam rooms, along with rooms for pre-op, operations and post-op recovery.

The drawing outlines a spacious cat and dog display room, a room specifically for puppies and another for expecting mothers, a kitten interaction room and two adoption rooms, as well as holding rooms for both felines and canines. There will be 14 isolation kennels for large dogs, a separate 162-square-foot isolation room for cats, 72 indoor kennels and 32 outdoor kennels, along with storage, restrooms, rooms for laundry and janitorial equipment and space devoted to food preparation. There is even a space labeled for use as a classroom.

There is also space allocated to Nye County Animal Control, which will have its own office and intake area.

The new animal shelter is set to be located at 1510 E. Siri Lane, on the corner of N. Floyd Drive and E. Siri Lane, not far from the existing shelter.

Bidders are required to submit a total bid price that includes the cost of, “…the steel structure and engineering, concrete slab, electrical, water, sewer, connections to electrical; and plumbing all underground and HVAC system,” as stipulated in the bid package.

For those interested in submitting for the project, all bids must be sealed in an envelope, labeled “Response No. 2020-04 - ANIMAL SHELTER CONSTRUCTION” and addressed to the Nye County Finance Department, 2101 E. Calvada Blvd., Suite 200, Pahrump, Nevada, 89048.

Once the contract has been awarded and the notice to proceed has been received, the contractor will have 180 calendar days in which to complete the project. This means that if there are no mishaps or delays, the county could see its new animal shelter finished as early as March or April of next year.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com