Legislator Bob Whitney, D-Jamestown, left expresses his opposition for using county money to build a dog shelter in Ripley. “Even a homeless person buys something and generates sales tax. I’ve never seen a dog generate sales tax,” he said.

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County has agreed to help fund a new dog shelter in Ripley that will be used by multiple towns.

Since the county is footing the majority of the bill, some Democrats expressed their concerns, with a couple voting in opposition.

During the county legislature meeting Wednesday, lawmakers voted 16-2 to use $67,050 from its unassigned fund balance for the development of a multi-municipality dog shelter facility in Ripley that will be used by the towns of Clymer and Mina.

The three towns applied to the county’s Government Reduction Assistance program for the funds. County Executive PJ Wendel had announced late last year that he was proposing $500,000 in the county’s fund balance to help spur government reduction.

Previously, the school districts of Clymer, Sherman and Panama, as well as the municipalities of Pomfret, Fredonia, and the city and town of Dunkirk have been awarded funding as well for shared services/consolidation opportunities.

During a committee meeting the week before, Ripley Supervisor Laura Pless and Deputy Supervisor Lee Swoap discussed the project.

Pless said the state created a new mandate requiring municipalities to have kennels for dogs.

“We quickly realized that this was going to be a pretty difficult task without thinking about collaborating with some other municipalities,” she said.

Pless said both Mina and Clymer were interested in joining in.

Swoap said the state has strict requirements for dog shelters, including heating and cooling systems. There also has to be a section for “dangerous” or “sick” dogs.

The total cost of the project is $82,050. Each municipality has agreed to fund $5,000, with the county paying for the balance.

Ripley is also doing around $4,800 of in-kind work, including site preparation by its highway department and the value of the land.

The new kennel will be able to hold six dogs, which Pless said would be sufficient for the three municipalities.

Pless said they also plan on creating a fee structure so that other municipalities could use their kennel if there is room.

Pless also said that they looked into a state grant, however in order to apply they needed to do a study, which could cost $40,000-$50,000. She felt that would be a waste of money and could also delay the project another year.

During a committee meeting, Legislator Fred Larson, D-Jamestown, noted the county would be funding around 80% of the cost. He proposed the county only fund half of the project, but no other legislator agreed with him so his proposal was rejected.

During the full legislature meeting, Larson again shared his concerns about the percentage the county would be spending.

“If there’s one out of 12 Republicans tonight that would move to amend this resolution to $41,000 of your constituents’ money going to the effort by these three towns, I would vote for that amendment and I would vote for that,” he said.

No other legislators proposed such a move.

Legislator Tom Nelson, D-Jamestown, said he couldn’t support the resolution as written.

“With the amount being proposed, funding roughly 80%, or $67,000, places too large a burden on the county,” he said.

Legislator Bob Whitney, D-Jamestown, appeared to be opposed to the project altogether.

“We have many homeless people that we could spend the money on. We have people that don’t have food that we could spend the money on. Even a homeless person buys something and generates sales tax. I’ve never seen a dog generate sales tax to give money back,” he said.

Legislator Lisa Vanstrom, R-West Ellicott, appeared offended by Whitney’s comments.

“Animals need help. A lot of times they’re abandoned, or there’s animals that get loose. A lot of fur babies play a big role in American households, Chautauqua County households, town of Ellicott households. I’m not going to ever compare homeless people to our fur babies and pets in our homes. And believe me, if you do own a pet, you spend a lot of money taking care of them, housing them, caring for them. I’m not going to compare pets to people,” she said.

When the time came to vote, both Nelson and Whitney voted no, while the other 16 legislators voted yes. Legislator Dan Pavlock, R-Ellington was absent.