Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Expectations of public comment on the city’s plans for a dog park fetched about a dozen residents at Wednesday’s meeting of the Shawano Park and Recreation Commission, but the meeting ended without an opportunity to speak.
Though the dog park was on the agenda, the item was intended only to update commission members on what happened with the park proposal when it went before the finance committee earlier this month.
After concerns about the proposed location were raised by neighboring residents, the finance committee curbed the dog park and kicked it back to the commission for further review of the site and possible alternative locations.
“Somehow word got out that this was the meeting to attend to give input on the dog park,” Park and Recreation Director Matt Hendricks said. “It was just an update. There was no new information and no action taken.”
Other than one question seeking a clarification, there was no discussion among commission members after hearing the update.
Hendricks said there will be an opportunity for public comment, but it could be months before there is anything to comment on. In the meantime, comments already made at the April 8 finance committee meeting are being taken into consideration, he said.
“We’re taking the feedback we heard and we’re going back and evaluating that site and other sites,” Hendricks said. “The process will take time.”
Hendricks and Public Works Coordinator Eddie Sheppard looked at about a half dozen city-owned sites for a dog park before proposing a 6-acre portion of property along Sunset Boulevard, between Pick ‘N Save and Channel Trace.
A number of residents at the April 8 meeting raised concerns about noise from the park and its impact on property values.
The Willow Shores Condo Association sent a letter to the city objecting to “a smelly dog park with a cyclone fence around it in our backyard.”
Hendricks said there will be future meetings dedicated solely to the dog park discussion.
“We’ll look at the sites and listen to the concerns,” he said. “Those meetings will be a good opportunity for people to come out and give their input.”
However, at this point, no meeting dates are set.
Hendricks said it could be midsummer or later before the meetings take place.
“There won’t be any action taken in the meantime,” he said.
Many respondents to a 2013 survey seeking public input on Shawano parks said they wanted a dog park.
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 city included $50,000 in this year’s capital improvement projects budget for the park. The expected cost of the project at the Sunset Boulevard location would have been $49,794, with $28,793 of that going for a fence around the park.