Where are all of the outraged taxpayers now? The TC without a vote spends $552,000 for a NEW shelter for the animals and we claim the Board of Ed is irresponsible for wanting to keep our kids safe and install a field that would be used by the community. No vote, no weigh in from the public just a half a million dollars spent on a new animal shelter. With no disrespect to our animals they seem to be the biggest priority of our TC. They get parks, they get new buildings and the TC remained suspiciously silent on something for our kids and community. They were originally asked to split the cost 1/3 with the Bd of Ed and Turf the Valley. Then that deal came off of the table. I guess Montvilles biggest priority is it's pets!

Give it a break cheryl you must not have a dog and a heart the shelter for the dogs is worth more then the turf and at least the citizens of this town contribute to the shelter what have you done lately let me ask you what are the senior citizens going to do with a turfed field at least with a dog park they can take their dogs any enjoy the sun and friends they make at the park Suck it up

It took me all of 15 minutes to find the following on the Municipal website -

April 12, 2011 - Animal Shelter discussion item
August 9, 2011 - Ordinance introduce (ord -2011-23) for the bonding of the MUNICIPAL contribution for the construction of the shelter (a significant percentage of the cost of the build-out is coming from the Montville Pet parents and other municipalities).
September 13, 2011 - Public hearing on ordinance for final adoption for the bonding of the project.
October 25, 2011 - discussion item to announce the winning bid for the project and the three additional items to be paid for by the Pet Parents. The Resolution awarding the contract to the builder was VOTED on by the TC.

This project has also been discussed for several years, and there was a special sub-committee that met regularly over that period to hammer out the details of the project. You can spend your own time digging through the minutes over the past two years to find those discussions

Bottom line - do your homework....

Also please remember while everyone talks shared services this shelter is funded by several towns. Also these same towns annualy pay Montville Township for animal control services through our Board of Health.

I am plesed to see that the Animal Shilter is going to get a long awaited face lift. No one if they visited the shelter would say no to this project. I feel this money is going to be well spent. Those of you who oppose, sit in one of those kennels when the temperature was 100 as well as the humidity. Just because you don't see it, it does not mean it does not happen. Those of you who are outraged don't have pets or understand what is done for them while they are in those kennels. While you sleep in your warm beds everynight you don't get phone calls at 3 am to pick up a dog who has been thrown out of a window on route 80. Or that bags of ice brought and thrown in the kennels to keep the dogs cool and comfortable because of no air conditioning or even fans. The building is so old it should have been done a long time ago. I don't mind selling the 50/50 tickets to help them raise money for a good cause at least the money raised goes to the animals unlike some oranizations. Its a no brainer.... DOGS OR TURF..... My vote goes to the animals. If you had a dog you must know DOGS OR BETTER THAN PEOPLE......

So, let me understand. The town council has, without a referendum or anything, decided to spend $452,000 of the taxpayers money (and other towns added about $100k which is great to see some shared help ) for a new animal shelter with air conditioning and that's ok with everyone? I don't own a dog. But if that organization that represents us felt that it was a need, I guess, as a citizen of the community, I can be behind it. No, I won't benefit from it or the dog park at all. I'm ok, I think. No, I am not going to start asking how many people have dogs, what the percentages of ownership and usage are, or anything. I trust them and that they looked into it thoroughly and that this is a true need. However, by the same token, if the organization that represents our schools felt that putting turf on the hs field was a need, I would have hoped that, as a citizen of the community, everyone would stand behind that, too. No, I don't have a child who would regularly use that, either. But it is a community need. The disconnect is that I don't get why when the one group wants to spend it's an issue. When the other wants to spend it's no problem. $452,000 is a LOT of money for a small percentage of our town's people. Where's all the bloggers of the town asking detailed questions about this? Why does one need a referendum and the other not? And no offense to the last poster, but if you honestly feel that 'dogs are better than people', I sincerely feel for you.

There seems to be a little confusion about the animal shelter and who it serves.. The Montville Animal Shelter (MAS) serves the people of several communities: Montville Twp, Lincoln Park, Boonton Township, and Mt. Lakes . Montville provides Animal Control Services to all of these towns. Some of the services provided by the two ACOs provide (and there are many more).
- Animal Control/Rescue - Stray Cats, dogs, lost animals.. They are found, taken to the shelter, returned to owners or adopted. MAS also handles owner surrendered animals from 5 towns
- Wildlife rescue - Sick/Injured wildlife (birds, deer, raccoons etc) are rescued by our animal control and taken to a wildlife facility. They also provide advice to residents on problems with wildlife.
- Spay/Neuter - Montville Animal Shelter has an active spay/neuter referral program for owners who need that service for their pet. Cats/dogs are adopted from the shelter are altered to reduce overpopulation.
- Running Rabies Clinics, Pet Licensing - to ensure the pet population is vaccinated for their safety and ours.
- Montville has also helped by providing a temporary shelter for animals displaced by the recent floods.

The Animal Shelter Services are funded through dog licensing fees, shared services & donations..

This is a great project that is way overdue. Congratulations to the Township Committee for making it happen after all the years of discussion.

The Animal Shelter and Animal Control Department does much more then the public know. They do not just play with animals all day. At times there may be 60 to 80 animals that need to be cared for, fed, cleaned, given medical attention 365 days per year. Kittens without mothers needing to be bottle fed, animals that come in starving, dirty, matted and sick need special attention. All this plus getting called on dogs running at large, cats and kittens in someones back yard, animals hit by cars, sick or injured wildlife, bats found in someones house, barking dogs, biting dogs, trips to the vet, wildlife rescue centers, spay/neuter drop offs, after hours emergency call outs, helping citizens with numerous animal related problems both with pets and wildlife, pet licensing, holding 2 rabies clinics per year, adoptions and adoption follow-ups to ensure animals placed are doing well, tons of paperwork and reports, these are some of the things the animal control officers do on a daily basis, all the while trying to keep the shelter clean, healthy, and organized. The animal control officers treat the animals as if they are their own. The old shelter is difficult to keep clean, the adoption room holds the furnace, duct work, and water heater intermingled with cat cages, the electrical is outside the walls providing a great place for disease to hide, the existing dog kennels are falling apart. The new shelter plans have addressed these problems. Go visit the shelter and see for yourself.

Discussions about both the animal shelter and the Turf Fields began at about the same time. The problem as I see it is that both are reasonable projects and part of the infrastructure of the Township and require attention. It does no good to pit groups against each other and a good part of that is the leadership. The shared sevices for Animal Contol with other communities has been in place for decades so their contibutions should reflect that and I don't believe $100,000 from those towns is enough. The other towns escape a lot of expence by farming out the work to us mostly in things like salary and benefits. It isn't a question of animals versus children. It is a question of need. The Township and the Board of Education debated for almost 5 years over a new Board Office while the present location sat empty and the Tax payers paid $14,000. per month for leased office space. It was delayed for over a year just for an argument over what the roof was going to look like. The money wasted could have paid for the shelter or gone a long way toward paying for Turf. I am glad that the Animal shelter is finally in the works it was needed but planning for all the infrastructure in the Township is important. We have a great Township and we need to keep it that way.