Fall River Dog Park

April 2008

   The Parks and Recreation Board of Commissioners voted to APPROVE a pilot dog park program in our fair city! Yahoo!!! Approval occurred with one stipulation: is a one year trial program. If all goes well, we can anticipate the park to be continued, and possibly other sites considered if the park is used heavily. Here's the skinny: Our dog park will be constructed at the bottom of Silva Park (adjacent to Oak Grove Cemetery & bordered by Locust, Quarry, Pine and Varley Streets). This site was identified as a fantastic location for our first park for several reasons: the entire perimeter is already enclosed in 6ft chain link fencing in good condition (less labor & resources to construct the park), the park is currently under-utilized (no ball fields or playgrounds exist there), the neighborhood is not heavily populated (ample parking), and Silva Park is located at approximately the center of Fall River (easy access for all residents). Our dog park will have an area for large dogs, and a smaller area for small dogs. It will also have a double-gated entry system for safety. We anticipate our dog park to be up and running for the summer season. Yey! In order for this to occur, the Departments of Parks & Rec and Public Works need to work out the details of construction.

   Meanwhile, there are 2 things we can do:

      1. Establish a group of citizens who are willing and able to provide stewardship for our dog parks. We are responsible dog owners who are likely to be heavy users of our dog park, so keeping an eye on the park will be an easy task. Other items that may be included in our stewardship are fundraising, organizing events, and ongoing participation with the Board to keep in communication about how the dog park is working. The topics will likely change as various issues or needs arise. Our group would not be responsible for things like picking up dog droppings (responsibility of dog owner) or mowing the grass (responsibility of Parks & Rec Dept). We seek to keep the dog park actively and responsibly used and well maintained. Because it is important to us to have this facility in our city, we are choosing to take an active role in the well-being of our dog park. I intend to propose that the Coalition adopt a dog park stewardship function into the mission at the next meeting (see Leigh for logistics of the next meeting). The Coalition will soon have non-profit status, and is an already established animal advocacy group in Fall River. Including stewardship of our dog parks is a logical and natural extension of the values and principles promoted by the Coalition. Additional Coalition memberships by those interested in seeing our dog park established beyond the one-year trial period would provide the Coalition with incentive to adopt this measure into the mission statement. Please join!

      2. The Board will soon be discussing the rules and regulations of our dog park. We can participate in this discussion by conducting our own research on local dog parks and attending the Board meeting to propose our suggestions. It would be fantastic if we could all collaborate and share information on local parks (Newport, Warwick, Foxboro, Providence, Salem, etc). This way we could present one list of suggestions to the Board for our dog park. This would be the first demonstration to the City that we are serious about continuing to be involved in an organized manner. It will set the precedent for future interactions, and establish our commitment to our dog park. I have information from the Warwick, RI park. If anyone has any other rules & regs, please share on the yahoo site.

Updates

   We are waiting for the Parks and Recreation department to being the conversion process. Thus far, they have been able to allocate the needed resources to get this job done.