Daily Journal file photo
                                The Richmond County Animal Shelter will now be operated by K2 Solutions.

Daily Journal file photo

The Richmond County Animal Shelter will now be operated by K2 Solutions.

<p>Gavin Stone | Daily Journal</p>
                                <p>Commissioner Toni Maples said that K2 are “beyond experts” in caring for animals and hopes to see a new supply of service animals to help those with PTSD.</p>

Gavin Stone | Daily Journal

Commissioner Toni Maples said that K2 are “beyond experts” in caring for animals and hopes to see a new supply of service animals to help those with PTSD.

<p>Gavin Stone | Daily Journal</p>
                                <p>Commissioner Rick Watkins and Finance Director Carey Garner at the special meeting Tuesday.</p>

Gavin Stone | Daily Journal

Commissioner Rick Watkins and Finance Director Carey Garner at the special meeting Tuesday.

<p>Gavin Stone | Daily Journal</p>
                                <p>Commissioner Andy Grooms at the Board of Commissioners’ special meeting Tuesday. Grooms voted against the contract with K2 Solutions to run the animal shelter.</p>

Gavin Stone | Daily Journal

Commissioner Andy Grooms at the Board of Commissioners’ special meeting Tuesday. Grooms voted against the contract with K2 Solutions to run the animal shelter.

ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a 3-year contract with K2 Solutions to allow the company to take over the county’s animal shelter and all of its associated services.

The contract was approved following a 5-1 vote, with Commissioner Andy Grooms voting against it. This move comes after two penalties against the shelter, one in October 2019 and the most recent in January 2021, relating to mishandling of animals in their care.

K2 is a service-disabled veteran-owned business based in Southern Pines with locations in Jackson Springs and Aberdeen. It was founded in 2003 by Sergeant Major (Retired) Lane Kjellsen, a former Special Forces Communications Sergeant who has 18 years of experience in special operations, and its Canine Training Center was established in Richmond County in 2009. They bill themselves as “a global defense and threat mitigation company,” and one of their focuses is on train dogs for high-level security and explosive detection, law enforcement as well as service dogs for mental health patients.

The company will take control over the Richmond County Animal Shelter on July 1. It will continue to seek desirable homes for animals and accept donations and volunteers from the community, according to a statement from the company.

“K2 recognizes the level of effort and commitment that Richmond County has devoted to the Richmond County Animal Shelter and we intend to build on their accomplishments,” K2 said in a press release.

Asked why K2 is a better option to run the shelter, rather than continue to train current staff as they have been, Chairman Jeff Smart said that it’s because “they’re in the business.” Talks with K2 have been going on for “several months” and Smart said “this is something they wanted to do and this is obviously something we wanted to do.”

“I just didn’t feel personally — and I’ve expressed this to the commissioners — I don’t think Richmond County should be in the animal shelter business,” Smart said. “I’m not saying we weren’t doing a good job, I think we were doing a great job, but it’s just come to the point where we need to turn it over [to someone else] … It’s just the perfect fit.”

The six full-time staff currently employed at the shelter, including Director Bonnie Wilde, and their part-time staff will be given the opportunity to interview with K2, according to Smart.

“We hope they will retain the employees, if for some reason they do not then if the employees want to reach out to the county for future employment we will consider that,” Smart said in an interview after the vote.

Commissioner Rick Watkins told the board that it’s important shelter staff be given this opportunity to work for K2, and encouraged County Manager Bryan Land to “move forward in that direction.”

Under the contract, the county will begin paying K2 on July 1, 2021 monthly: $30,973.48 for pay and benefits of staff, $3,833.33 for vet services and supplies, and $1,500 for animal food. The current contract would end on June 30, 2024. The company submitted a proposal to become the operate of the shelter on May 19, 2021.

Smart said there will be a roughly three-month transition period for the county to shift control of the shelter over to K2. The company will take over full control of the shelter, which passed its most recent inspection on Feb. 24, 2021. There are stipulations that allow either party to opt out of the contract, though Smart could not provide details Tuesday morning.

Smart said in the meeting Tuesday morning, and County Manager Bryan Land echoed him in a statement Tuesday afternoon, that they are pleased to reach a deal with a local business.

“[K2] are deeply rooted in our community with investments in property and in people; having employed scores of Richmond County residents over the last 11 years. We are extremely fortunate to partner with one of our own, an organization here within our borders,” read Land’s statement. “They possess the expertise and proven success of operating a top-notch business providing care and training to animals.”

The state’s role going forward

After the January penalty, the shelter’s staff participated in two trainings run by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture (DOA), one on March 2 and another on March 25, according to Heather Overton, a spokesperson for the DOA. Overton confirmed that there are no open complaints against the shelter currently.

Smart told the Daily Journal that the county has talked to state officials about this transition and that “we have their blessing.” Overton confirmed that the DOA is aware of the county’s plan, but that the DOA has no say in the matter and therefore doesn’t “approve or disapprove” of the county’s contract with K2. The DOA’s only role is to make sure that K2 remains in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, and Overton added that there are a number of shelters in the state that are run by private entities.

The animal shelter’s license to operate is currently under Richmond County’s name and does not transfer over to a new owner, according to Overton. This will mean that K2 will have to apply for its own license, which will mean the shelter will have to pass another inspection, though this one will be announced as a “courtesy” — since it will be K2’s first — unlike those that will follow, Overton said.

K2 has never been a licensed animal boarder in North Carolina, according to Overton.

The benefit for the county, and animals

Commissioner Toni Maples said that stray cats and dogs will always be an issue in the county, but that having K2 in charge, who she described as “beyond experts” in the field, will be “positive” for the shelter. She told the other commissioners that this deal will help mitigate the shortage of service animals that K2 has experienced, which results in them having to get animals from other countries.

“With [K2] being able to work with the dogs to become service animals that’s going to save a lot of our veterans, our active duty [military], and even our civilians who suffer from different mental disorders, to keep suicide rates down,” Maples said.

She added in an email that “K2 is a top notch facility” and the company’s commitment to training service dogs was “all it took” for her to support it, because these dogs could save the lives of those with PTSD.

Smart and Jimmy Quick, who was hands-on in supporting the shelter over the most recent challenging periods, declined to comment on the impact K2 would have on the county’s issues with stray animals. Land said that K2’s resources will allow them to “build on past accomplishments and create new opportunities for all involved.”

“We envision a bright future for Animal Services in Richmond County as K2 continues the mission to provide a destination for the stray and unwanted animals in our community and to facilitate their placement into desirable homes,” Land’s statement continued. “We encourage our citizens to support K2 Solutions through continued donations and through volunteer service as made possible by K2 Solutions, Inc.”

Commissioner Andy Grooms said in an email that he voted against the contract with K2 because he felt that the taxpayers won’t see “any long term benefit.”

“We are passing all the potential for success and benefits that can come with it and almost all operational decisions onto another party. At the same time we are not alleviating any of the financial burden on our tax payers,” Grooms said. “Had the services come in at a cost less than the county currently operates at or if a guarantee of the amount of animals they could adopt out or move a year had been made, I would have voted differently.”

Grooms said he has raised these concerns with the other commissioners, but they disagreed. He said he respects their decision, and hopes that the deal addresses the concerns of those in the county — many of whom are former employees or volunteers with the shelter — who have protested, emailed and called over the last several years expressing their frustration with the shelter’s operations, and Wilde’s leadership.

“I sincerely hope it does satisfy some in county that have frustrations because that will be the only benefit I currently see moving forward. I believe the county was doing a good job,” he said. “Could things be changed to improve? You can always improve at everything.”

He expressed frustration that the public only saw the negative that the shelter did, and not the positive.

“But that’s all pretty much out of the county’s hand now. The time for talking about it is over and it’s time to help make it a success because it’s not about the human side, we all just want what’s best for the animals,” Grooms said.

Brandy Alfredson with the Humane Society of Richmond County said that they were aware of this deal between the county and K2, but declined to comment on whether this would impact the Humane Society’s relationship with the shelter.

The shelter’s most recent penalty from the Department of Agriculture was for $2,250 in January for it’s role in allowing a dog that had suffered “paralyzing” injuries to go 30 days without pain medication despite a veterinarian’s recommendation that the dog be euthanized. The dog, Princess, which has since undergone surgery and recovered, was picked up by an animal control officer in summer 2020 after apparently being hit by a car, then was in the care of the shelter, the the Humane Society of Richmond County, and the dog’s owner.

In October 2019, the shelter was fined $2,000 — though it was reduced to $500 on the condition that the county develop and fully implement protocols to comply with a number of provisions in the Animal Welfare Act — for premature euthanasia of 10 animals, among other violations.

Grooms seeks more transparency

Prior to voting on the contract at their special meeting on Tuesday, which was announced around 8:30 a.m. on Monday, the commissioners went into a closed session citing attorney client privilege. Grooms motioned to amend the agenda so that the vote on the K2 contract moved to the next regular meeting, which would be July 6, citing an interest in transparency.

“In the name of transparency, I think we should talk about this at our regular meeting [as opposed to the special meeting],” Grooms said. “We’re going into closed session because of [General Statute] 143-318.11(a)(3) which is attorney client privilege, and I just don’t see what an attorney’s got to do with this.”

Maples initially seconded his motion to amend the agenda, but rescinded it, saying that she meant to motion to move forward with the agenda as it was.

Smart countered Grooms’s statement, saying that they wouldn’t vote on the contract in closed session, but rather during open session of the special meeting, during which media was present. There were not members of the public present for the vote.

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Reach Gavin Stone at 910-817-2673 or gstone@www.yourdailyjournal.com.