The Town of The Blue Mountains (TBM) council has authorized the completion of the dog park at Craigleith’s Heritage Park, which had been put on hold following public concern about its location and size.
Originally scheduled to be built last fall, on Nov. 1 residents expressed concern that the 40-by-61-metre design of the dog park would impede other recreational activities on the property.
The park is also home to a playground, as well as a ball diamond that the dog park will extend into.
The park’s construction follows a petition to include a Craigleith dog park in the 2021 budget, and a public survey in which 170 out of 371 respondents voted for the park’s current site, out of a possible four locations.
Following the concerns expressed by residents, council directed staff to further communicate with residents who had reached out to the town, and to speak with the contractor about the potential costs of changing the park’s location and design.
“We did go out and email directly to 254 residents, and received 49 responses, with the majority being in favour of this design in this area,” said director of community services Ryan Gibbons at council Mar. 14.
Changes to the park’s current design would push the project over its $25,000 budget, as the current contract is valued at $23,527.
Consideration had been given to moving the park further north on the property.
“The contractor said depending on scope change, it could be upwards of $10,000,” Gibbons said. “If it was moved further to the north, … we may have to consider another $5,000 for additional parking area to be able to make it accessible for folks to get to the park.”
Coun. Paula Hope argued that the town needs to find ways to more clearly communicate with the public, in order to avoid delays.
“We need to try to figure out a way to educate the public about when is the final time for feedback,” she said. “We need to do a better job informing the community when they can have their say.”
Staff argued that the town had done its due diligence in consulting the public.
“Staff went through the appropriate processes for communication – we really just want to move forward with the project,” said CAO Shawn Everitt. “The comments around communication, I don't know what more [we could do] on a pretty simple project.”
“When we did site selection, [we sent out] approximately 4,000 letters,” Gibbons said. “From those 4,000 letters, we did get 371 responses, the majority were in favour of that location.”
Council voted in favour of authorizing the construction of the park according to its original design.
