Jeff Whitten, Correspondent
Bryan County Commissioners got an update Tuesday night on the county’s animal control program, which includes a soon-to-open Richmond Hill shelter and a budget that by fiscal year 2026 is expected to weigh at $515,000, almost double what it was five years ago.
In addition, the county hired three new employees and is increasing their pay, according to Assistant County Administrator Kathryn Downs, who also gave commissioners a count of how many animals were handled by Bryan County Animal Control over the past 17 days.
Those numbers included 12 cats and two dogs that were transferred from the current shelter to rescues, four dogs and two cats that were adopted, five animals that were returned to owners and a sick cat that had to be euthanized.
Downs, before sharing the story of a dog which was picked up Sept. 26 and rehomed by Oct. 9, also talked about the new shelter, which reportedly comes with a $990,000 price tag, and efforts to improve the county’s adoption rates through both a new adoption campaign as well as by seeing if it’s legally feasible to establish a volunteer program and an in-house foster program which would enable residents to take a pet home for a trial run.
There were no shortage of people at Tuesday’s meeting volunteering to work with the county to help improve outcomes for stray animals – among them Megan Felton, who has lived in Bryan County since 1999 and is vice president of Two Black Dogs Foundation, a local nonprofit and the only one licensed in Bryan County; Carolyn Greiner, a resident of Richmond Hill since 2018; Jennifer Taylor, director and co-founder of Savannah-based Renegade Paws Rescue; and Allyson Short, a volunteer leader with Chatham County Animal Services.
Each told commissioners they want to work with the county’s animal services program on various programs, from TVNR -- or trapping, vaccinating, neutering and releasing -- feral cats to getting volunteers to exercise animals and taking animals to adoption events.
“You have a wealth of experience in this room,” said Taylor, later adding, “give us a chance to be at the table. Give Two Black Dogs a chance to be at the table …. we want to work with you, not against you.”
The issue went somewhat viral recently on social media after former employees painted a dire picture of working conditions for shelter staff in interviews with local TV stations.
County officials in turn investigated the claims and have worked to improve conditions, officials say.
In other business:
The county’s jail study moved ahead after commissioners approved spending $120,500 on a study begun in August by Atlanta-based Comprehensive Program Services “to study to explore expansion/ new construction options for the Bryan County Jail,” according to the county.
The company’s proposal includes data collection and analysis, facility conditions assessment, programming, conceptual design and a formal report to commissioners on “costs, estimates, timeline and possible solutions for financing the capital construction project,” according to Downs.
After a motion to approve the measure by District District 4 Commissioner Patrick Kitzgen and second by District 2 Commissioner Wade Price, discussion was brief.
“(I) just want to make sure we’re all clear that that is including the existing facility, possible renovation to that instead of building new, is that right,” asked District 3 Commissioner Jeff Nielson.
“Yes,” Downs said. The measure passed. In September, Bryan County Sheriff Mark Crowe, Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney Billy Joe Nelson and Bryan County Solicitor Don Montgomery told commissioners the county’s jail – built in 1997 – was at capacity, endangering inmates and jail staff, and causing warrants not to be served.
Crowe said a study done two years ago by the Georgia Sheriff ’s Association said the county needs a 450 bed jail in order to meet growth projections for 20 years.
Commission Chairman Carter Infinger said the county wants to work with Crowe but is looking at what it needs and what it can afford, hence the study. He noted Long County, which reportedly recently built a new $17 million jail but couldn’t afford to staff it.
Commissioners also approved spending $1.597 million on a design contract with Thomas & Hutton for an effluent pump station, force main and land application system in Waterways in South Bryan, as “existing wastewater treatment and transmission facilities in South Bryan County are reaching their maximum capacity quickly with the growth of the area,” County Administrator Ben Taylor said.
And: Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $2.489 million contract with Thomas & Hutton to design and engineer a new 500,000 gallon per day – expandable up to 1 million gallons per day -- membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment facility in Waterways. Taylor said the new facility will be funded in part through tap-in fees paid by new construction and shared costs with the developer, Savannah Land Holdings, LLC.
Both measures passed unanimously. And: after a lengthy executive session for personnel and litigation, it was unclear from the county’s live stream whether commissioners took any action afterward.
Whitten is a freelance correspondent for the News.