Parks Commission

7:02: meeting convened all commissioners present Carolyn adds story walk to agenda. Geoff adds “job descriptions” to agenda. Bill moves to approve amended agenda, Carolyn seconds, all in favor. 7:04: Open dog discussion. Emily recaps results of last dog discussion: - incident report form - canine code of conduct - poop sub-committee which helped raise money to install dog waste stations Emily hopes to recap the incident and get more information. She also hopes to ask the commissioners about how to approach the larger dog conversation. Recap of the incident: a runner was bitten by a dog and there was no information from the owner as to whether or not the dog was vaccinated for rabies. No one in the room reports having first hand knowledge of any more information about this incident. The parks commission in the past discussed the possibility of an incident such as what happened on the 25th. There was no formal action taken regarding forming a citizen committee or any other method of dealing with problem dogs. Bryan shares a general sense that after adopting the canine code of conduct things were quiet in the park, then there was an eruption on front porch forum following this incident. He shared a wish to hear more about the concerns, even though much has been said already. Bill states that he would like to have Geoff summarize what sort of incidents beyond this dog bite occurred. His impression is also that things got better because of the process that already occurred. Kip noticed a lot of calls for a compromise on Front Porch Forum. He wonders if we can visit some of those options and discuss them further. Carolyn thinks it’s important to hear from all users in the community and get a range of opinions. Emily recommends the discussion is opened to the public to respond to the question “Is the current process working, and if not what recommendations would you have?” Bryan wrote a list of assumptions about what the commission already knows. (document attached from Bryan). Carolyn has a question about voice control and hearing from the dog training community. Geoff shares the observation that he has heard from people in the North Branch park with dogs off leash who say they don’t go to Hubbard park because their dogs get attacked. He also has noticed that owners whose dogs have caused incidents in the past tend to put dogs on equal footing with humans. 13) an occurrence of negative interactions between dogs 14) we are seeing an overflow of off leash dogs into north branch and on reason often cited is the negative dog interactions in Hubbard. Emily asks around the room if anyone has an additional assumption to add to Bryan’s list. Christy Sternbach-Eist Montpelier Didn’t hear anything about positive dog interactions and the positive aspects of Dot Hilling Montpelier Dog issues arise out of bad dog companionship and the responsibility is on the owner. She feels there is a sense of entitlement in the dog community about their right to be there and their behavior in the park. Danis Montpelier Wanted to clarify the rules for the North Branch Park and dogs. Rules are clarified by Geoff that dogs are to be on leash at all times Marilyn Mode Montpelier Wants to share that she has gone through the media reports on the police department website for the last two months. That includes 2106 incidents/complaints. 39 of those dealt with dogs. There are only 2 reports of dogs in Hubbard Park. Most of those dog reports are about dogs loose in town, including lost dogs. Not included are incidents of dogs left in cars. Marilyn also requested the incident reports from Hubbard Park and noted 2 dog reports, 1 out of date report, on “quasi-report” and 3 mountain bike reports. Emily summarizes Marilyn’s assumption that there are few dog reports compared to the overall incidents Trudy McCardle She is a long time dog walker and dog lover. She has had to be removed from the park twice by Montpelier Ambulance because of friendly dogs who were under the control of their owners. She has been banned from the park by Tom. Emily captures the assumption that positive dog behavior can be dangerous to some user groups. Elaine Ojala Montpelier Points out that these interactions could be happening with regulars or visitors and we should recognize that. Mary Messier Montpelier Wonders about assumption number 1…perhaps its not true. Also thinks that number 2 is a shaky assumption. She feels that people are not necessarily reporting and there may be a lot of discontent that is not being heard. Robert Kest Berlin Thinks it should be noted that Hubbard park is the only venue where dogs are allowed to run off leash. People have many choices but dogs do not have many. Also notes that Social Science research suggests that incident reporting is a biased type of report so anecdotal reporting may not be as accurate. Katherine Williams Montpelier Notes that there are many incidents that are not reported. Emily wants to open the floor to hear people’s opinions about the next steps. Commissioners agree to hear the opinion of the public. Dave Carter Montpelier Not sure what current policy states for an incident like this. He thinks that whatever policy exists probably works most of the time. He thinks perhaps adding police mandated training for the dog and owner in this type of incident. Tom Wales Goes to the park twice a day. Puts his dog on a leash in the presence of children and always asks other people if they want his dog on the leash or not. Sarah Swenson Montpelier This is an education opportunity for people to communicate the code of conduct to one another. She is new to the park within the past two years with a dog and followed the code of conduct but was not aware of it. She thinks that people should feel comfortable talking to one another, and thinks that the code of conduct is common sense. Her main point is for more education and clearer records Deb Dwyer Has lived next to the park fro 16 years and has seen the “dog situation get much worse in that time.” She wants to see a fenced in dog park in Montpelier. Katherine Williams Montpelier She thinks the code of conduct is a good idea. She wants to see another note that it isi ap rividelege to have your dog off leash and that it is not a dog park. Chris Bean Montpelier Chris would vote to do nothing because it is a multi-use park and there is much opportunity for potential conflict. He thinks the signs should note that such conflicts can occur. Dot Helling Montpelier She supports Chris’s comments. She wants to see more effective enforcement or penalty for those who are not following the rules. John Akielaszek Montpelier He thinks that canine code of conduct has worked well for those who are aware of it. He thinks there could be some information for non-dog owners about what they should expect from dog owners. Danis Montpelier A proposal was made to a former parks commission that would have initiated a volunteer 3 person committee to deal with dog related incidents in hubbard park. Also proposed was a printed card for dog owners and non dog owners about the rules of the park. Before considering any changes to the current dog policy (which her experience has been working well) she recommends implementing the proposed card. Trudy McCardle She thinks the proposal of certain times for leashing dogs in the park is a good suggestion. Alice Silverman Montpelier Suggests that the incident reporting procedure is important and wants to see it be more clear and accessible. Elaine Ojala She wants to see nothing done, but recommends that the the main ways be a dog on- leash zone where children and elderly would more likely be located. Mary Messier She wants to see a compromise, and doesn’t think that doing nothing is a good option. She likes the idea for different hours or having certain places for leashes. Fabienne Pattison Montpelier She is a runner and has never had a problem with dogs. She was wondering if we could add on the information board for people who come to the park to expect that there will be people with dogs in the park and an encounter is likely. Nancy Hammond Montpelier She thinks that there are a lot of rescue dogs in the area and that these dogs come with histories. She thinks that contacting the rescue organizations and having them help us help the dogs fit into a situation. She thinks they could be a wealth of information and training. Lynn Bingham Montpelier Has noticed that there are many people in the park who are not from Montpelier. She wants to see better and more signage about the code of conduct and the reporting. Danny Coane Question: If there is a dog bite and someone fills out the incident report, is it a requirement that the police department be notified? He thinks that they need to be and a health officer needs to be notified and someone needs to take action. He thinks that if there is a bite it needs to be investigated and looked at. Sharon Asay Montpelier Has lived adjacent to the park for 10 years. She has never had an incident with a dog in the park. She realizes that things can happen though, but often notices that sometimes she never sees anyone in the park. She wonders if enforcement is possible. She thinks in general things are working pretty well but would like to see better signage. Christie Sternbach Feis Montpelier Wonders at what point the North Branch becomes East Montpelier where dogs are allowed off leash. She would like to see more signage of the transition between the two areas. Robert Berlin He wants to note that the idea of the brochure/card was to make it easier for people to speak to each other. He wants to encourage communication, community and support instead of the rules-based punitive approach. Emily closes session for public input and turns the discussion back to the commission for next steps. Carolyn has also noted how many out of towners are in the park and wants to support the move for better signage and better incident reporting. Geoff raises the idea for a dog mentor list, some color coding for rabies and dog training, and also some more information when you get your dog license about training and behavior. Bryan would like us to move immediately on large signs and on the wallet card. Bill also supports immediate action on signage. He also wants to see some enforcement and explore those options. Kip wants to see some education in the schools about our dog policy. He wants to make sure that our rules are making everyone feel welcome. Carolyn brought up that CVHS has provided training in the past and that we could reach out to them. Emily wants to add that the idea of a “safe interaction” is subjective. Emily brings up 5 major areas that she heard. First Tier: 1) the wallet card. 2) Signage 3) Incident reporting Second Tier: 4) Exploring what in fact are our enforcement policies 5) Training options 6) Some kind of separation in time or space for dogs in Hubbard Park. Geoff points out that one of the success stories of past dog conflicts was a citizens group that worked together with Geoff to do proactive communications with dog owners about proper dog behavior. Carolyn volunteers to explore training options. Emily volunteers to write up an incident reporting process Bryan volunteers to investigate signs. Bill volunteers to look over the wallet card and move it further along. 8:48: Emily adjourns dog issue 8:49: Carolyn motions to approve Story Walk as long as they consult with Geoff about location. Bill seconds. All in favor. 8:54: Geoff reports that the department consolidation conversation is getting closer and that there are some significant pros and cons about all the possible consolidations. Emily volunteers to contact Bill about the process and timeline and how to get the parks commission involved. Some discussion of the budget ensued. Bill agreed to look at past budgets to determine some general trends in the park budget. Bryan moves that we amend August’s minutes to clarify the mission of the North Branch. Carolyn seconds. All in favor. 9:25 meeting adjourned.