“I think the city has an appetite for this,” Gore said. “I think this is a great way for us to show that we can take interest that the community has and put it into action and move forward with it in a positive way.”
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In February, Councilwoman Nancy Byrge made a presentation to council outlining her vision for a dog park. She cited her experience knocking on doors during her recent campaign as confirmation that residents would be interested.
“Seventy-five percent of the doors I hit had a dog, at least one,” Byrge said during the presentation.
A location for the park is not yet selected, but Byrge proposes building the park on land the city of Huber Heights already owns, in a location easily accessible by road with adequate space for off-street parking. She also suggests the park be built within walking distance of residential areas and away from children’s playgrounds.
Byrge said the park should be built on a minimum one acre of land with separate spaces for large and small dogs.
In the long term, Byrge recommended the creation of a nonprofit group that would sponsor dog shows and competitions, and hold fundraising events to cover the costs of improvement and maintenance at the park.
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Byrge also said grants or other alternative forms of funding could be available for the park.
Several other communities or parks systems in the region have dog parks, including Centerville, Fairborn, Dayton, Springfield, Montgomery County and Xenia. A new dog park is under construction in Miamisburg without use of taxpayer dollars, using the assistance of the Miamisburg Community Foundation.
The dog park committee will meet at 6 p.m. today at City Hall, 6131 Taylorsville Road.
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