Legislature’s $3 million compromise for new arctic habitat expected to pass
By Denise Jewell Gee
December 5, 2011
Erie County lawmakers have come up with a compromise to help polar bears at the Buffalo Zoo.
The Legislature is poised to give its blessing Thursday to a new plan to borrow $3 million for a project to build a new arctic habitat and entrance plaza at the zoo.
Lawmakers hope the money — half of what the zoo requested from County Executive Chris Collins — will be enough to assure the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that the zoo is moving forward with its plan to overhaul the polar bear exhibit to meet new standards.
“We’re grateful that they were able to come up with $3 million, so we are very happy about that,” said Donna M. Fernandes, zoo president and CEO. “Obviously, we had wanted $6 million.”
If legislators approve the deal Thursday, the zoo will have raised $10.2 million toward the $18 million project. That’s enough, Fernandes said, to complete design work and begin construction on the first phase of the project.
The zoo will then be in a race to raise the rest of the money in time to begin construction on a new polar bear exhibit in 2013.
Fernandes has told county lawmakers that the association could choose to move the zoo’s two polar bears — especially its breeding-age female — if it does not make progress toward upgrading the habitat.
“They know that we have to do the logistics of building the new entrance first in order to give the bears more space,” Fernandes said. “They’re just watching the progress that we’ve made, and as long as we stay on schedule, I don’t think there’s a problem.”
Fernandes, however, said it will be difficult to raise the remaining funds from the private sector.
“We’ve already gone to a lot of the major donors who supported our campaign last time,” Fernandes said.
The zoo’s plan is to begin construction on a $3.5 million entrance plaza for the zoo in the spring. That would make room to construct a $14.5 million habitat with saltwater pools, better landscaping, updated educational exhibits and more space for the polar bears to meet updated requirements set by the zoo association.
The zoo also aims to meet standards required to take orphaned polar bear cubs from Canada — a rescue effort it cannot participate in now because of its aging habitat.
“A big part of our goal is to try to provide homes to bears that otherwise are going to be disposed of,” Fernandes said.
Collins surprised legislators last month with a request to give the zoo $6 million from the county’s anticipated year-end surplus. Legislators balked, and the state-appointed control board expressed concerns about dipping into unspent funds before the year is over.
“While undoubtedly all of the interested parties agree that the project is a worthwhile one and will benefit the community for years to come, the county’s participation must be measured against it’s financial responsibilities and obligations,” Daniel C. Oliverio, chairman of the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority, wrote in a letter to the Legislature’s Community Enrichment Committee.
Oliverio told legislators that the stability authority could borrow the money on behalf of the county to tap into its favorable interest rates.
With that advice, county legislators and County Executive-elect Mark C. Poloncarz came up with a plan to borrow $3 million for the zoo. Collins has also agreed to the plan, said Budget Director Gregory Gach.
Legislators could revisit the zoo’s request for an additional $3 million in the future.
Legislator Thomas A. Loughran, an Amherst Democrat who is chairman of the Community Enrichment Committee, said legislators didn’t feel it was “prudent” to tap into the anticipated budget surplus before the end of the year.
Instead, the Legislature on Thursday will consider a bond resolution authorizing the county to borrow $3 million for the zoo project. Loughran said he believes there are 10 votes to pass the item.
The Buffalo Zoo in September received a new five-year accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, but Fernandes said that came with the expectation that the zoo would make progress in upgrading the polar bear home.
She has told legislators that the polar bear habitat was cited as a “major concern” when an inspection team from the association reviewed the facility in June.
The association does not release accreditation reports to the public.
Fernandes told lawmakers she was worried that the association would move Buffalo’s female polar bear, Anana, to another zoo with a new polar bear habitat when it makes new breeding recommendations through its Species Survival Plan program next year.
Steve Feldman, a spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said a number of factors are taken into account when those recommendations are developed, including available exhibit habitats and genetics.
“The Buffalo Zoo’s progress and its plans for upgrading its polar bear habitat are part of that picture as these recommendations are put together,” Feldman said.