While Indialantic struggles to get the votes to even discuss a dog park, Satellite Beach has become even more dog friendly with a new committee and plans to improve and expand its newly sodded facility.
Before the recent sod project completed two months ago, the Satellite Beach park was mostly sand, and some dog owners had moved from the official dog park near the city skate park to a fenced area at the DeSoto ballfields.
The group started causing complaints when some members failed to clean up afterwards.
“We were illegally in there but it was so sandy (at the existing dog park) that we wouldn’t go there,’’ said Alan Dillon, now a member of an advisory dog park committee, who has a very energetic 2-year-old dog named Smokey.
Dillon lives on a deep water canal with virtually no back yard. The dog park is key to Smokey getting exercise, he said.
“I was walking five or six miles a day and he didn’t get enough,’’ he said.
With the new sod in place, the dogs big and small are back at the city dog park.
The dog park committee developed a long list of maintenance concerns and suggestions and while they were at it, spearheaded by committee member Ruth Ellen Peipert, they decided to request the city council to consider expansions.
The committee on June 21 requested the City Council to enlarge the current acre and a half dog park by creating a 250-foot large north-south dog run meeting the existing fence. There also are plans to expand to the east to add area to both existing large and small dog runs.
The city staff has so far been responsive to the maintenance requests and the City Council approved the slate of improvements and expansions. Funding will be provided a $10,000 allocation from the city capital improvement fund to be considered in the upcoming 2017-2018 city budget and staff has applied for a non-matching grant for up to $15,000.
Dillon said he is known by city staff for being vocal when pointing out constructive criticisms for needed city services. “When it got to be a safety issue at the dog park, that’s when I became very vocal. And we had to get grass in here. They’ve been good about working with us and we’re moving forward on this thing,’’ Dillon said.
The park, considered Brevard County’s first off-leash dog park, will be renamed for former city council member Lorraine E. Gott, who was instrumental in its creation.
“This is the way it should work: to have citizens come to the city and ask for improvements. We’re not down there walking our dogs. We don’t know what it’s like down there because we’re not down there to see it. It’s nice that our citizens are brave enough to ask staff. This is good progress I think for our city,’’ said Vice Mayor Steve Osmer before the unanimous June 21 vote.
“Our citizens are very brave, I can tell you that,’’ said City Manager Courtney Barker at the meeting. “They have no problem telling me what they want.’’
Fellow committee member John Seling brings his dog Baxter to the park twice a day. “I wonder why other cities don’t allow them in the parks or have a dog park. They let dogs in the restaurants around here a lot,’’ he said.
