Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano officials will vote Monday on whether to designate a dog park in the city when the finance committee and Common Council meet for back-to-back special meetings.
The park and recreation committee on Wednesday recommended a 6-acre portion of city-owned property along Sunset Boulevard, between Pick ‘N Save and Channel Trace.
The property had been used as farm land and will need to be developed as a dog park, which will include cultivation and seeding that would get underway this year if approved.
The park could be open for canine recreation by spring of next year.
The expected cost of the project is $49,794, with $28,793 of that going for a fence around the park.
The resolution on the table Monday includes accepting a bid from Fortress Fence, of Green Bay, for that part of the project.
The city had included $50,000 in this year’s capital improvement projects budget for the park.
Shawano Park and Recreation Director Matt Hendricks and Public Works Coordinator Eddie Sheppard had been looking at possible dog park locations for the last several months. About seven or eight city-owned sites were analyzed before settling on the location that will be voted on Monday.
A survey seeking public input from residents on Shawano parks in 2013 cited a dog park as something many respondents wanted to see.
Dog park enthusiasts approached the Shawano County Board on two occasions in 2012 to establish the park at a clay borrows site on Rosebrook Road in the town of Belle Plaine. It was voted down twice over concerns about the proposed lease, the expense and what entity would be responsible for it.
The finance committee will consider the dog park among other agenda items at 8 a.m. Monday at City Hall, 127 S. Sawyer St. The council will convene immediately after.