At the July 15 Council meeting, the Stanley City Council heard from local resident and Stanley Community Association (SCA) member Roxie Caswell with an update on the future dog park planned for Stanley. Caswell shared that the location for the park is projected to be west of the Chapman Lake Dam, but the size is still under consideration. Speaking on behalf of the SCA, Caswell told the council that they would like to construct the dog park and gift it to the city. “The city’s going to get a free dog park,” she stated.
While the majority of the council shared that they think the park is “a good idea” and will be beneficial, they hesitated to accept the gift, stating that they will not operate it and requested more detailed information for the park’s rules and maintenance management.
“It sounds like the city is not going to take it over. We have no point person. It appears we don’t have staff to maintain it either,” said Mayor Mike Henke. “It sounds like the council is open to it if there’s no cost to the city.”
“We don’t mind you using the land,” added Alderperson Jacob Huff.
Caswell mentioned that the park is receiving community support, pledged donations and is hoping for approval for the park from the council. Alderperson Jason Meyer agreed mentioning that multiple citizens have reached out to him with their excitement of the future dog park. Expressing their concerns for who would be the contact person for the park and also handle the maintenance and upkeep of the park, the council also requested a site plan, bylaws, and plan for insurance from the SCA. Parks Committee member and Alderperson Ben Wald offered to attend the next SCA meeting on Tuesday August 6 to further discuss the proposal.