A motor vehicle incident at Warren County Animal Control and Adoption Center is calling attention to the need for a circle drive to the make the facility handicap accessible.
“I told you so,” said Commissioner Blaine Wilcher, who has being urging the county to install a circle drive at the facility. “I told them it was just a matter of time until someone backed over the bank. I’m glad they weren’t seriously injured. Now, maybe, we can get serious about addressing this issue and pursuing the circle drive. It’s a no brainer.”
The facility has parking for two to three vehicles from visitors, as well as the department’s vehicles. However, it is difficult to turn around in the area. Visitors wanting to adopt an animal or drop off a donation of food must back down the winding driveway to get turned around.
On Tuesday morning, one such visitor was attempting to back down the drive and backed off the edge of the embankment. A tow truck was used to pull the vehicle up the embankment.
Commissioners have debated the state of the driveway for years. Consideration has been given to installing a circle drive and removing the need to back down.
Wilcher, a member of the county Health and Welfare Committee, says the incident proves something needs to be done.
“I have spoken about this several times over the last four years when pushing for a circle drive at Animal Control,” said Wilcher. “We held a committee meeting there and one of the commissioners said the men on the committee should have parked at the bottom so the ladies could park at the top. We should be able to park anywhere because that is what the public will do. If we have a difficult time parking, then the public would have a difficult time and we should do something to fix that.”
Wilcher is not alone in his belief. Commissioner Carolyn Miller, a member of the county Building and Grounds Committee, toured the facility in early 2016. During a subsequent meeting in March, she relayed to its members what she witnessed while there.
“I was out at Warren County Animal Control a couple months ago and I saw this lady get out of her car,” said Miller. “She had a walking stick and a bag. When she came back and got into her car, she couldn’t get out. There were too many vehicles. I wish everyone in this room could have seen that lady and the difficulty she was having getting out of the parking lot.”
She motioned to include $50,000 into the next fiscal year budget of Animal Control to be used to pave the gravel driveway, improve parking and install a circle drive to make the facility handicap accessible.
Her motion was approved in committee. The funds were later removed by the county Budget and Finance Committee during 2016-17 fiscal year budget discussions.