A couple dozen people turned out for the Dog Park Meeting on Wednesday night. Most of the original dog park task force was present, along with some of the hundred or so individuals who have contacted the Parks Department and expressed a desire to help make the park a reality.

Community Services Director Terry Higashiyama and I made some introductory remarks, and then turned the meeting over to parks officials and citizens in attendance to work on details.

The land that we often refer to as the NARCO property (the former site of the NARCO brick-making facility) is available for the dog park, at least as a temporary use. The city is interested in seeing whether the park is popular and well-taken care of by the users before committing the land for the purpose in perpetuity.

In order to make the site work, the land needs a few basic improvements, including a fence. A preliminary design is available for a split rail fence with a wire mesh.

The City Council has budgeted $50,000 for 2009 for this park, but we would need another $50,000 or so to complete the fence. We are hoping that the money could be raised privately, by creation of a charitable foundation and a giving-campaign. This is appealing because any money raised in addition to the $50,00 could be used for further improvements. We also want the users to feel a sense of ownership, so that they take good care of it.

We can make a rule that all dogs using the park must be licensed, which will help us improve compliance with animal licensing regulations. I think that this change will help generate some of the money necessary to meet the city costs associated with the park.

The citizens in attendance broke up into working groups, took different assignments, and decided to meet once a month to keep the dog park moving forward. Anyone else who wants to become a new volunteer could join them at 7:00 PM on the first Wednesday of each month, on 7th floor at city hall.

All in all, I'm very excited about the prospect for an off-leash dog park in Renton, and I enjoyed meeting the other boosters of this facility.


( see more photos by clicking here )