Iola City Council members delayed, for now, a decision on where to put a new dog park.
Council members told members of a local committee that raised more than $10,000 in support of a local dog park they wanted to look at the proposed plans for the park and at other potential sites, before deciding on where to put it.
Committee member Wilma Krokstrom, one of several who helped raise the $10,000 requested by the city — thus showing local support for the park — pressed council members on approving a site near Irwin and South State streets.
She presented council members with a proposed budget to build the park — it would cost about $15,000 — and a list of rules governing park users and a drawing of how a park on South State and Irwin would be laid out. The dog park would be partitioned off for large and small animals and would have a water fountain for the animals.
Local advocates for the dog park raised the funds with the thought it would be along South State, Krokstrom said.
Others in the audience expressed concern the city was considering alternate sites, including Cofachique Park on North State Street.
Lisa Wicoff, wife of councilman Joel Wicoff, said she was “livid” after hearing Cofachique Park mentioned, particularly after council members had stressed the importance of keeping city matters transparent and in full view of the public. Never before Monday had Cofachique even been mentioned, she noted.
She also was dismayed because having a dog park would interfere with children using playground equipment at Cofachique, or picnickers who eat lunch there on a daily basis.
Most troubling, Wicoff said, was that flags already had been placed at Cofachique marking where a dog park would be positioned.
“I haven’t seen any kind of study that says this would be a good location,” Wicoff said.
COUNCILMAN Scott Stewart noted the city has been threatened with a lawsuit if the dog park is placed at State and Irwin by Don Snavely, who lives directly across the street from the proposed site, outside Iola’s city limits. Snavely appeared at a council meeting last summer to express his opposition.
Likewise, Stewart said he also was opposed to putting the dog park at Cofachique. He said a better location would be near the intersection of Chestnut and Vine streets.
Snavely isn’t the only one opposed to the South State Street site, Councilman Jim Kilby responded. Others in the area also have voiced opposition, and have indicated they would sign a petition if the dog park were placed anywhere in south Iola.
Kilby also noted that of the 64 dog parks in the state, all but two were placed in existing parks. Iola could follow suit, he surmised.
Council member Steve French said he was ready to support the dog park committee’s recommendations, adding the city could defend itself if sued.
