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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Dog Park Committee - 05/15/2008 DOG PARK COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 15, 2008 Members Present: Lisa Ventriss, Claire Williams, Jamie Heins, Howard Shapiro, Joan Jarvis, and Lori Valburn Also Present: Todd Goodwin, Recreation Department Guests: BJ Rogers, exec. Director of Humane Society Barry Dagen, interested party volunteer at Human Society Stated at 6:35 Humane Society people wanted to offer support for dog park Lisa: Purpose today: Meeting to compile thoughts on public meeting Barry Dagen: Questioned what we need to present at June 16th City Council committee? Lisa: Reviewed for their benefit what we have done so far,talked about review of sites review of standards for parks. 1st action items-reviewed minutes from 4/9 meeting moved and accepted minutes for 4/9 Lisa asked committee members about their thoughts on public forum. Lore: reviewed her thoughts. Complemented Lisa on handling of meeting was happy about visuals and complemented Tom about all the photos. Commented on seeming that people wanted trail areas along with fenced off leash area. Joan Goal for meeting 2 steps before public committee meeting Lisa wants to use this meeting to condense location, finance, and guidelines. Council/Committee meeting on June 16th Lisa recommends all committee members should be there. Cover what process has been researched. We have done standards we feel necessary locations discussed. Lisa feels possible not to narrow down specific location but put to council our various recommendations. DOG PARK COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 15, 2008 Members Present: Lisa Ventriss, Claire Williams, Jamie Heins, Howard Goldberg, Joan Jarvis,and Lori Valburn Also Present: Todd Goodwin, Recreation Department Guests: BJ Rogers, Exec. Director of Human Society, and Barry Dagen, interested volunteer at Human Society Meeting called to order at 6:35pm. Humane Society expressed support for dog park, and willing to assist in any way they can. Also interested in providing informational programs including dog obedience classes. Lisa stated that the primary purpose of today's meeting is to compile thoughts on the presentation to City Council on June 16th,to hopefully condense location, financing, and guidelines. There were a few questions regarding what the format should be, length of the presentation, and what the Council would be looking for from the committee at this point. Lisa stressed the importance of all members being present at the Council meeting. Minutes from 4/9/08 meeting were approved. Lisa asked committee members for their feedback on the public forum on 4/29. Lori complemented Lisa on handling the meeting so well and was pleased with the visuals Tom had for display. She had the impression from some folks that they wanted trail areas along with a fenced-off leash area. At an earlier meeting, Councilman Magowan encouraged public involvement and for the committee to come up with ways to involve the public. Lori felt that we have accomplished that by providing opportunities through the survey&public meeting. Lisa pointed out that the committee seems to all be in agreement that no one site is ideal, we can present top one or two, based on further review of those locations. More specific language is needed in terms of maintenance and what costs are associated with that. There was some discussion regarding user fees. Todd informed the committee of what the Recreation Dept. currently has in the way of fees & charges through the department facility use& fee policy. Lisa reviewed the possibility of fundraising options and what options could be for funding. Joan questioned replacing costs of Patchen Road and re-allocating to new dog park, if maintenance costs are allocated per location. Claire feels that the park should be fee-based and feels that an annual fee could be charged& a tag issued. The possibility of adding a fee to the dog license was discussed. Barry suggested having a fee box on site where funds could be collected and could be collected/emptied by person locking up. Lisa reviewed each location as an overview. The committee decided to take a confidential vote to see what's the top priority for each member. Interestingly, the landfill location came out as the unanimous choice. Barry&B3 felt that dogs do not make as big a deal about noise as people do. BJ felt that the sound may actually help with desensitizing dogs to noise. Lori expressed concern at the Landfill regarding lack of trees and shade. Lisa Yankowski from Red Rocks Committee stated at the community meeting that she might be able to help with getting trees with her employee discount. Discussion on South Village property location followed. Committee felt that if Developer moves forward with a dog park that he would build it to standards,this would probably not be done until next year. In regard to standards, there's everything from bare bones to Gucci. The report to City Council should outline bare bones minimum standards that would be required,including: a minimum of two acres, storage shed, double gate, 6' high fence, small dog containment, benches, shade,and signage. Committee felt we need to come up with specific minimum rules. Question also raised about how we approach the volunteer situation, and what their role should be. BJ suggested that the Humane Society has considered doing a seminar"Dog Park 101"to educate owners on the proper use of a dog park;this is something that we could partner with them on. BJ felt that it is tough to put rules in place that would be hard for a basic volunteer to enforce. Committee feels ramping up for a"Friends of the Dog Park" should be done up front, getting more folks involved in the process, and possible help with funding. BJ says fencing for the small dog area at Starr Farm is not well designed. A suggestion was made that possibly the small dog area should have its own gate specifically to that area, without going through the big dog area to get to a small dog area. Howard will obtain a copy of Starr Farm Rules&Regs. Lisa asked Todd to get an idea of how much time the committee would have for its presentation, and whether council would want any presentation materials ahead of time. Lisa asked for BJ's input on whether we are on the right track. BJ said it is a public good and community benefit and it is helpful all the way around and would like to be an active partner. BJ will attend the City Council meeting if possible Meeting adjourned at 8 pm. Next regular committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 10th, at 6:30 pm. Respectfully submitted, Joan Jarvis, Secretary