Less than one month after the proposal was presented to the public, the village council has agreed to move forward with opening a dog park in Burns Lake.
In its meeting on Feb. 26, council agreed to sign a lease with Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) – for $2,500 per year – for the land of the Dick Schritt Ball Park for building a dog park.
The village would also form an agreement with a non-profit organization to manage the park, including summer and winter maintenance tasks.
The dog park project is led by a committee of Lynn Synotte, Tracey Payne and Nicole Gerow, who first proposed the plan to council on Jan. 29.
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“We are thrilled. Absolutely thrilled. Now the work begins,” Synotte told Lakes District News.
“We’ve been gathering information on park designs, costs and operations.”
Once an agreement is made between the Lakes Animal Friendship Society (LAFS) and the village the committee will begin writing funding proposals.
Synotte said they plan to approach seven organizations, some of which are local and a couple that are international, though she didn’t provide any names.
She estimates the park would end up costing around $30,000, of which the 70 yard by 70 yard fence enclosure would come to $10,000.
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For the operation of the park, Synotte hopes to partner with LAFS.
“[It] wants to develop the educational component of the kiosks [at the park] and maybe hold periodic training sessions” for dogs at the park.
“It would be extremely important to have suitable, clear signage that promotes responsible care, behaviour and responsibility – and safety for guardians, their dogs and most especially children,” Synotte said.
She also hopes to involve the community in some of the finishing touches of the park once it’s established.
“There are some great opportunities for the children to be involved in perhaps the naming of the park, creating artwork for signage, making informational posters for a critter-related bulletin board at the park, or embellishments such as ‘painted paws’ that are attached to the fence and make it more welcoming and cheerful.”
In discussing details of the park, director of public works Dale Ross said taking on the lease wouldn’t lead to an increase in the village budget or its liability insurance policy, which is $10 million.
He added that in his conversations with CN Rail, once the village takes on the lease it would be able to plant trees on the site and landscape it.
“CN is in favour of it and they have dog parks up and down CN lines from here to Ontario. It’s quite a common thing to do,” he said.
Blair McBrideMultimedia reporter
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