During Tuesday’s work session, the Piedmont City Council entertained a proposal to potentially allow a Labrador retriever breeding facility to be built on a 10-acre city-owned property.
Tim Baird, made the pitch in hopes that city officials will allow an unnamed kennel company to build the facility, which he would run, in order to breed dogs to be used for tasks such as the detection of explosives, a service that Baird said is currently in demand.
“There’s a shortage of detection dogs in the U.S. right now,” he said, adding, “the demand is there and we want to be able to supply that.”
According to Baird, who previously worked in a similar capacity for Auburn University, the state of the art kennel would begin with 45 dogs, which will be bred and then raised from birth until they reach one year of age. At that point, they would be sold to various training facilities.
“I could have gone anywhere in the U.S., and they would have supported this,” he said, adding, “I wanted to bring it here to this community. I want to be able to bring it to the city I love, where my kids are growing up, and bring jobs here.”
With plans for future expansion, Baird said the kennel expects to hire one employee for every 30 dogs.
At the August 20th council meeting, Lane Weatherbee, chairman of Piedmont’s Commercial Development Authority, requested that city officials deed the 10-acre property at the city’s industrial park to the CDA in order for the kennel company to lease it.
If approved, the deal would require a $300,000 investment by the city.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council entered into a 20-minute executive session to further discuss Baird and Weatherbee’s proposals. Upon their return, Mayor Bill Baker said no decision had been made.
“For further action,” Baker said, “we’ll be in touch with the chairman of the board and let him know what the situation is. No vote will be taken at this point.”
In other business, bills for payment were approved in the amount of $438,635.68.
The next regular Piedmont City Council Meeting is scheduled for October 1st, immediately following the work session, which is set for 5:30pm.