HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft Minutes - Common Areas for Dogs Committee - 10/11/2022COMMON AREA FOR DOGS COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
October 11, 2022
Attending: Holly Rees (City Liaison), Betty Milizia (Chr), Muriel More, Lisa Yankowski Acting Clerk), Linda Chiasson, Robyn Birgisson
Missing: Molly Joy
Public attendees: Barbara Sirvis, Steve Klein & Nancy Bromberg, Elon Curran & Haily Morgan
1) Meeting called to order at 6pm.
2) No Changes, additions nor deletions to the agenda.
3) No public comments.
4) Review and approval of minutes a. Robyn moved to adopt minutes for 08/17/22, Muriel 2nd pending 2 changes
i. Adopted with 1 change to #4, “letter”
ii. Minutes adopted for 09/13/22 with a change to #4f, last line should make point that another program is “using public land and raising funds”. 5) Committee membership update.
a. Justin Palmer submitted his resignation from this committee after the last meeting.
He is a frequent user of the Farrell Dog park and provided excellent feedback on some of the issues at the park. We thank him for his service on the committee. We are looking for a new member to join.
6) Wheeler Dog Park update
a. Per Adam Cate (DPW), Middlebury Fence is expected back around 10/24 to do the corrections to the front gate area and some fence boundaries. The dirty berm is gone, access will be improved. We hope to have a “soft opening” in
November. Signs may not be ready but temporary signage will be done if needed.
Robyn inquired how we would let the public know. The media options that are available: The Other Paper, SB emailed newsletter, social media, etc. b. Muriel expressed disappointment that the city council approved a small area
enlargement rather than what had originally been approved for. There has been no
discussion on access from the parking area to the park entrance and beyond. What about paths inside for those with mobility issues? She is further disheartened that there has been no discussion for the southern boundary with Common Roots nor further expansion of other boundaries. The letter from the
CCAD was not discussed. The city council only talked to the department who
messed up the work that has been done. She is concerned that what needs to be rectified will be stalled and forgotten.
i. Betty expressed that we did have an impact and the city council wants to get the dog park open this fall. They have not dismissed the needed
correction to the NW, SE & southern boundaries. To have tried
addressing everything would have delayed the opening longer. City Manager Jessie Baker has been directed to have staff work with us getting the other issues resolved. There are 4 items to be fixed now. The park will have a soft opening and go back to work on the rest.
ii. Common Roots stated at a public hearing that the dog park should be
closed when they have an event going on. The committee voted to recommend the dog park be open per city ordinance, daily dawn to dusk. No private entities should be able to influence the normal functioning of a public park. Moved was approved.
iii. Holly reported that once the public has access to the Wheeler Park we
need to discuss our next strategies and talking about funding. The “CIP” process is coming up. We will want to be included in the budget talks for dog park funding. Maintenance will need to be addressed along with supplies and equipment.
7) Farrell Dog park update
a. Work has not started yet. A consultant has already made recommendations. Staff needs to decide which of the 2 proposals to use to mitigate the water drainage issue. Muriel asked when it will be done. It is expected to be done this year. Holly suggested that Betty ask Matt Cota if she should reach out to Tom DiPietro
about the work. The fencing will need fixing and other supplies for use on the
site. b. Status report on the “sheds” project and what maintenance prepping needs to happen for winter. c. Fencing for Farrell Park needs replacing- we need to design the gate area and get
the fencing ordered so the work can happen in the spring
8) Dog Waste Bag Stations: a. Holly reported there is $15,00 in the CIP for FY24 for additional Dog Waste Bag Stations. Betty asked committee members to review the draft letter with
information on the statics of dog ownership and behavior and why we need more
stations in the city. We are proposing more strategically placed stations around the city. Robyn motioned to accept the proposal, Muriel 2nd. Lisa expressed concern that the dispensers we currently have are not filled as fast as needed. Muriel also feels this is an issue. We currently have about 1100-1200 dogs
licensed in the city. Lisa will email Betty with her thoughts on where additional
stations should go in Red Rocks. Muriel feels we need to include plans for the new dispensers in the plan. Steve suggested volunteers to help pick up bags. He & Nancy had done this in the Intervale in Burlington. It did get hard very fast. We may need a better way. We are tabling this until the next meeting.
9) Additional dog parks: a. There is $60,000 for FY24 & FY25 towards developing new dog parks. The thought is to have at least 1 dog park per city quadrant.
b. It looks like the O’Brien Bros Hillside part of their development is slated to have a dog park, will fulfill one quadrant. There will be accessible parking meaning
the city will probably assume control a few years out from opening.
c. FY24 needs to see the city’s comprehensive plan being overhauled. FY25 we should have plans for building out dog park amenities. d. 10) CIP and ARPA funding:
a. Changes to the CIP funding now allows funds not used during the fiscal year to be
carries forward into the next instead of ending. b. We need to work on drafting a bullet points we would like to have some of the extra ARPA funds to use for.
Next Meeting is November 8th- this is also voting day
For discussion at the next meeting- ARPA funds, send thoughts & ideas to Holly before the next
meeting. The budget. We hope to have an update on Farrell & Wheeler.
Muriel motioned to adjourn, Lisa 2nd. 7:48pm