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Date: 5/3/2022
NORTHAMPTON – The Trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School (SVAHS) voted on April 26 to welcome the city’s animal control facility to a new location on the school campus. The program will be housed in a facility next to the current building for companion animal studies.
The city’s animal facility will be a little less than 2,000 square feet. The trustees were able to view early renderings of the building to be constructed. Early estimates put construction costs between $2.5 million and $3 million.
“The big two topics I keep harping on would be liability and responsibility,” said Superintendent Andrew Linkenhoker, who saw very positive opportunities for an educational partnership. “This is not a program every school could be taking on.”
Police Chief Jody Kasper told the trustees most of the animals her department handles are domesticated, lost or abandoned, or are being held as evidence in court cases. Most are not dangerous. No animal control officer for the city has been seriously injured by an animal in custody.
“If we came across an animal that we felt was like that, we would have it handled only by the animal control officer,” Chief Kasper said. “Our officers will do the feeding and watering.”
The safety of students is inherently difficult on the campus, according to Trustee Julie Spencer-Robinson, whose children attended Smith. The open architecture of the school allows a greater accessibility to the uninvited. That may be more of a problem with people coming to the new facility.
“The campus is so porous,” Spencer-Robinson said. “My children … loved going from building to building, but it came with that liability, that inability to monitor … [so] what might we put in place to facilitate that monitoring?”
Kasper offered that animal control officers drive clearly marked vehicles and wear identifying uniforms. Effective signage will guide visitors to the facility. Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, also a trustee, asked how the Greenfield Community College nurse training program, located on the campus, handled security.
“They have direct access, they don’t even have to check in,” said Linkenhoker. “How do we ensure that we have 550 students on campus that are safe? It’s a real concern…We have a hospital literally next door, and we occasionally have those people on campus.”
The campus location for the facility, next to Cooley Dickinson Hospital, will free up another location recently secured by the city on Cook Avenue that was originally identified as the future home of the animal control facility. According to the mayor’s office, the purchase of the old Moose Lodge was also finalized by the city on April 26. The old lodge will be torn down and the site designated for affordable or mixed use housing.
Many abutters to that property voiced concerns about animal-related uses. Stanley Moulton, a city councilor for Ward 1, lauded the decision to locate the facility on the school campus.
“This is a win-win-win solution because it addresses a long-identified need for the city, provides an educational opportunity for SVAHS students, and responds to concerns raised by residents in the neighborhood of the Moose Lodge,” Moulton said in the press release.
The superintendent relished the new partnership with the city. The animal facility will be constructed adjacent to the companion animal program the school currently offers, allowing for some interaction with students. The benefits add no fiscal responsibilities.
“This comes with no budget implications for the school,” Linkenhoker said. “There are no additional demands on the school.”
Discussion before the vote revealed that soundproofing has been talked about at length. Privacy issues are under consideration, though the location will be somewhat sequestered. Linkenhoker described the site as near the old tennis courts that now host a solar installation. “That small parking lot, that plot right there, near the hospital parking lot,” Linkenhoker said, “is the area we were looking at earlier.”
Sciarra talked about the due diligence she went through with former Mayor David Narkewicz, a difficult review process of all the sites being considered. The campus location, which better serves the needs of the community, was not overlooked by the former mayor.
“I got over my shock, having been told this was never going to be a possibility,” Sciarra said. She walked the site and was pleased to report, “This is a really exciting step forward. For me, the synergy between this building, that the city desperately needs, and the education program here, really make my heart sing.”
Kasper told the trustees her department has animals in foster homes and at the police station. Currently the department has a snake and a turtle in custody.
“The snake got out the other day,” Kasper said, “so we need an animal facility desperately.”
The city will begin planning the construction of the animal control facility immediately.