While the enthusiasm of one Erin resident was encouraged, council said the idea of creating a dog park in the town is more complicated than it sounds.
Mary Kay Amos of Hillsburgh asked council on Sept. 19 to consider creating a dog park.
She created a Facebook group for those interested that now has 270 members.
“The interest is there … a lot of people are kind of excited about the idea,” said Amos.
She proposed the creation of a committee of interested community members that would present possible locations, fundraise, develop best practices and a budget.
She asked for a commitment from council to go forward with a dog park once the information is compiled.
“All of those structures (about running dog parks) are already in place out there. Those are not questions we need to answer,” said Amos.
“Many of us live on rural properties. This is not about having a lack of place for dogs to play,” she said.
“It’s about the fact that, whenever you put a community of people (together) who all are passionate, whether it’s their kids at the playground or their dogs at the dog park, you’re building community.”
While councillor John Brennan applauded Amos’ enthusiasm, he said it will take more than just a committee to get the job done.
“The idea is wonderful. I think it’s a little more complicated than you think it is, because I suspect it’s a little bit more than a fence,” he said.
“What we need is a little bit of guidance from staff’s point of view and that is to talk about some of the other aspects.”
Brennan said there are hours of operation, maintenance, noise, health and liability aspects to consider.
Councillor Jeff Duncan said he thinks the project can be completed soon.
“I’m a little more optimistic that it doesn’t need to wait until we develop an entire master plan for the parks and recreation space,” he said.
“I think it would be a good opportunity to run it as a test pilot in a location like Barbour Field or something.”
Amos agreed with the location, noting “there’s so much untapped potential” there. She added this would be a feel-good item for council to complete.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff going on that is dragging on and on and there’s no result,” she said.
“Give people something that can and will come to fruition and it makes you feel good and it makes them feel good.”
CAO Nathan Hyde said there needs to be a plan.
“I don’t want to be seen as the bearer of bureaucracy by any stretch for bringing more red tape,” he said.
“Staff aren’t opposed to this idea, but we have a concern and are a bit apprehensive bringing this forward devoid of any strategy.
“I think it’s irresponsible to just go ahead and just pick a location without considering things like source water protection areas … (and) growth assumptions.
“We need to plan this properly. We envision this being part of a recreation master plan, which may actually result in more than one dog park ultimately, but it’s a little premature in my mind to bring this forward now.”
Hyde encouraged Amos and the Facebook group to actively be part of the recreation master plan when it gets underway later this year.
Mayor Allan Alls thanked Amos for her presentation adding, “We’re not going to let it drop.”
