A homeowner in Waukesha for 20 years, Steve is president of the Waukesha Dog Parks Organization and enjoys motorcycling, fishing and staying on top of politics.
Monday evening the Parks Board voted for, with one vote against, recommending to the City Council to provide $5,000 to the county to develop a dog exercise area in Minooka County Park. At this time it would be an effort funded primarily by the county but with contributions from New Berlin, City of Waukesha and The Waukesha Kennel Club. If you don't have a dog and would rather not spend the money, here is why you should be interested in this and even contact your alderman in support of the proposal.
Dog parks are rapidly developing across the country. Over 900 are in existence. Madison and Dane county alone have nine. Often the availability of such parks are a quality of life consideration when choosing the desirability of a community to live in. The city parks department has been looking into them and know that they are needed here. They have identified two existing parks where they could be constructed. A dog park can cost $100,000 or more to develop. The county is going to do it for an estimated $45,000 by supplying the labor itself. The county is also going to maintain the park and manage it at no cost to the city. While the maintenance will be covered by user fees, there is the administration that will take time, and time is money.
For $5,000 the city can help create a dog park convenient to the city taxpayers and incur no further expenses. This could eliminate or at least greatly delay the need of constructing our own such park features. The savings are tremendous! For this reason each city taxpayer should be interested in this proposal and urge their alderman to vote for it at the council meeting next Tuesday evening. The money for this will come from a park development fund already in existence.
One public comment was that she has been paying for a dog license fee for many years and nobody can tell her where that money goes. She also pointed out that more dog licenses would be sold due to the need for one to enter the park. Another comment was that the dog park should be thought of as more for people than for the dogs. People come to socialize and exercise themselves as much as for their dogs. Another person in attendance who is a realtor has pointed out that some people just moving into the area are looking for such facilities for themselves and their dog.
This proposal is something that everyone can feel good about. But all the alderman are not sold on it, so your participation is crucial. Please call your alderman in support of the proposal. You can email me with any questions that you have about the dog park concept or the county's proposal.
