Friends of Hill's Bark Park
Sept. 13, 2006 - General Meeting
Snyder's Cabin, Gage Park
Shanna Dunn-Vigare called the meeting to order at 7:20. She introduced Linda Halford, an Animal Control officer for the City of Topeka. Linda provided us with several hand outs on animal behavior and city regulations concerning dogs. She informed us that Animal Control Dispatch can be reached 24 hours a day at 368-9203. We quickly realized that we should have that number posted at the Park for emergencies.
She reviewed some of the city ordinances for pet owners. The tethering ordinance states that a dog can only be tethered for 1 hour at a time and must have a 3 hour break between those periods. Dogs can only be tethered 3 times within a 24 hour period.
A Pit Bull Ordinance has been in place since 1991 in Topeka. A Pit Bull (American Bulldog, English Terrier or Staffordshire Terrier) or any mix thereof, must be registered with a permit, micro-chipped and regular inspections of the home/pen is done on a regular basis. A recent change is that the owner no is longer required to carry liability insurance. However, in public, the dog must be muzzled and on a leash no longer than 4 feet. This does apply in the Bark Park, as well, including being on the leash. Pit Bull and Pit Bull mixes are not allowed to be leash free, even in the leash free Bark Park. Any other dog that is found to be a vicious would also be restricted to a muzzle and 4 foot lead in public, as well as the other registration requirements.
Linda suggested that most confrontations at the park with rough dogs can be solved with common sense and courtesy. Since it is hard to tell sometimes which dog started a skirmish, it might be best to ask both owners to remove their dogs and go home to cool off. She cautioned us to discourage humping and other dominance behaviors, as these can lead to problems if two dominant dogs are involved. She encouraged us to use the dispatch number to report overly aggressive dogs, and especially report when an injury has occurred. If the action is in progress, they will try to get someone out as soon as possible. Getting a name or car license is helpful for the Animal Control officer to follow up on an incident.
Business for the evening began with approval of July's minutes. Chris Macha motioned for approval, Drew Walker seconded and the minutes were approved. Karen Walker presented the treasurer report. We spent $25 for our Paws in the Park Booth, $25 from petty cash, which was replaced from the general fund, $31.29 at Office Depot for printing and $565.18 for our latest shipment of t-shirts. We made $142.95 at the event we had at Shake's with the Paw Print's 4-H Club. This left us with a balance of $330.43, before the Paws in the Park event. That event brought in $168.55 at our booth, so our checking account balance is $498.98. Petty cash stands at $52.00. Out funds in the Park and Rec. Foundation was at $7500. With the $281.50 added from our share of Paws in the Pool, it is at $7781.50.
Ron Cathey, from Parks and Rec., thanked us for our time and efforts at the Paws in the Pool. He felt our group did a great job and really got things done for the event. We had great feedback from the public at our Paws in the Park booth. Many folks who stopped by were regular Bark Park patrons. Mike Bauman and Drew Walker, with their helpers really put together an eye catching booth. They may have got HHHS thinking about making booth decoration a contest next year. Our friends at Hill's have challenged us for next year. Now all we need is the theme and we're ready to go.
Mike presented his model of what our entry will look like with the bricks installed. Ron said the city is ready to begin laying bricks later this month. They are also going to work on the walkways around the parameter of the parks. Once the work is done the City will work with us to plan a dedication ceremony for the spruced up entrance. He provided the names of the Marketing team for Parks and Rec. as a resource for future events we have. They are Terry Simpson and Doug Stilling. Unfortunately, the plans for paving the parking lot will have to be put on hold until next spring.
We asked Ron if the city could add the word Clean to the clean bag barrel. We need to remind everyone to bring some bags when they come, so that we can keep both sides filled. Members are still split on the idea of paying for the city to keep the black bag dispensers filled. Some would rather see that money spent on other improvements at the park. The ideal situation would be for the bags to be underwrite by sponsors who specifically want to cover that cost. Mike thinks we could get 3-4 months of bags for about $186, so the cost wouldn't be overwhelming.
Shanna shared that a web site for the group is still a goal, but not one we are able to work on at this time. She then invited open discussion of other ideas and comments. Tina and Linda DeLeRosa mentioned they had a well attended Birthday party for their dog, out near the small dog park and were planning a Costume party for Oct. 29. They also mentioned an event at the Library on Nov. 11, for kids interested in better pet care and training. Check with the Library for more information on that event.
June Martin, with Paw Prints 4-H Club, wants to work with us on more joint fund raising events, like the one we did at Shake's. We would like to see the next event take place at the park. Ron mentioned that they could let us use the ball diamond next to the park, after the season ends. Paw Prints has regular training sessions during the summer, including one each week open to the public. They would like to have these closer to the Bark Park next year. The Board of Directors will look at how we can work more together in the future. An Agility course is one of our goals, so it would be good to work with Paw Prints, since they have experience in setting up courses.
It was noted that there is some agility equipment in the large dog park, and that maybe we could put some small pieces of equipment on the small side. Ron thought he might be able to scrounge something. (Most of the large park equipment has been re-cycled from excess items from the park coffers) We also reminded him that the lights were still not working from the storm a few weeks ago. He'll get that fixed soon.
Our next meeting will be November 8. This will be the last meeting for 2006. We may look at a different location for our meetings next year, since Snyder's Cabin seems to be hard to find for some. We might consider a location closer to the park or in the park during fair weather months. Any ideas our members have would be welcomed by the Board of Directors.
This page was updated on 05-Feb-07
