HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft Minutes - Common Areas for Dogs Committee - 04/18/2023
Draft Common Area for Dogs Committee
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Members Present: Betty Milizia (Chair), Muriel More, Robyn Birgisson, Linda Yankowski, Molly Joy (Clerk)
Staff Present: Holly Rees (Recreation Director), Helen Riehle (City Council Chair)
Public: Barbara Sirvis
Betty called meeting to order at 6:02 PM.
1. Adopt Agenda
Additions were added for Wheeler Activity and Maintenance.
2. Public Comments (Unrelated to the Agenda)
None
3. Review Dog Incident Log
City staff have been logging incident for 15 months now. Most reported incidents are calls directly into the
Recreation Department. In March there, was an increase in off-leash dog incidents. Since these reports,
there have been additional signs placed at Wheeler, Hubbard and Red Rocks to remind folks to leash their
dogs. This week there was a report at Wheeler of a dog-on dog-attack which broke skin reported to the
Animal Control Officer.
4. Off Leash Areas
Individuals who live by Hubbard Park often walk their own dogs off-leash. This may be a potential location
to designate as off-leash. Certain days of the week or hours could be designated as off-leash.
It would be beneficial to poll dog walkers to understand what they are looking for when they walk off
leash. Committee would need to specify how long the survey should stay open, what the survey should
say, and locations the survey should be advertised. Findings could be published in the Other Paper.
Poll people to understand what it is that they were looking for when they walk their dogs off leash and
then publish findings in the Other Paper.
5. Leash Ordinance Review
Current Leash Ordinance states that dogs must be “under the control of the Owner, a member of his/her
immediate family, or an agent of the Owner, either by leash, cord, chain, or otherwise within control of
such person”. The Leash Ordinance is vague making enforcement difficult since “control” is not clearly
defined. Currently the leash ordinance is vague, which makes enforcement difficult. We will revisit this
during next meeting after Committee has more time to think about this.
As part of the annual dog registration, a recommendation was made to create informational cards to
include as part of the mailing of dog tags.
A recommended was made that signage be included Farrell and Wheeler to remind residents to register
their dogs and vaccinate against rabies.
6. Earth Day and Green Up Day Events
Earth Day is Saturday, April 22nd. A UVM intern is helping with facilitation of volunteer work from 9-11 on
Saturday. Community invited to Wheeler and Dog Park to pick up poop. There will be a hand sanitizing
station and gloves. A recommendation was made to place a donations bin for the dog park.
7. Wheeler Update
Maintenance is needed at Wheeler due to mud and stagnant water in lower section. There was a
complaint from user whose dog had a parasite from drinking stagnant water. There are also ground bees
that appear to be nesting in the entrance. Starting in July (2024 CIP), additional bag dispensers can be
placed on the South side of park. IT Department is still looking into mechanism for individuals to donate to
dog park (i.e., QR code to Venmo).
8. Farrell Update
Surface is very wet. There has been no change to the plan since the February meeting (refer to February
minutes).
MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 7:33 PM PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
9. Future Meetings
Tuesday, May 9th, 6 – 7 PM