Parks Commission

Dan Dickerson Carolyn Grodinsky Bill Johnson Sarah Swenson Geoff Beyer, Parks Director Alec Ellsworth, Parks Caretaker Montpelier Parks Commission – Meeting Minutes May 16, 2017 Present: Carolyn Grodinsky, Sarah Swenson, Bill Johnson, Dan Dickerson Sarah chaired the meeting Agenda approved (Bill’s motion, Dan seconded) Dan requested that the draft April minutes be amended to remove “Brian” and add “Bill” under the motion to approve two shelter rentals. Amendment was made. Dan moved to approve April meeting minutes as amended, Carolyn seconded. Motion passed. Director Updates NCCC members all doing well. Lots of honeysuckle removed and replaced with natives. Invasive removal has trumped summer festival planning for the time being. Received an update from a Fab Pattison, a community member, on the cleaning up of information kiosks around the park. New maps were printed and laminated. The parks budget is in good shape for the last two months of the fiscal year. Dog Discussion Dona Bate of the City Council was present to offer insight on the actions of the Dog Control Committee and of the City Council. She informed the Commission that the Dog Control Committee had voted at its April 24 th meeting to recommend requiring dogs to be on leash on city bike paths, sidewalks and streets but a vote to recommend requiring dogs to be on leash everywhere in the city failed. The Commission discussed the Article 4 question on the special city meeting ballot and had a general discussion on dogs in Hubbard Park. Geoff recommended that the Commission make some recommendations on actions to better educate the city public on dog protocol and then to publish those recommendations in various media sources. The Commission discussed the potential for a dog park to allow certain dogs with behavioral challenges (youth, rescue, etc.) to interact with other dogs in a safe setting. The discussion was then opened to the public and several individuals made comments of disapproval about the special meeting ballot item and made comments about the need to educate the public (dog owners and non-dog owners alike). The Commission decided to draft a letter to the City Council expressing disapproval of the ballot item and to comment on positive efforts the Commission and the City Council have made to regulate dogs, without enacting a park-wide leash requirement, and that those efforts should be allowed to stay in place with monitoring. The Commission will continue the dog discussion at future meetings. Executive Session The Commission entered executive session at 8:35 pm to continue its ongoing discussion of rental rates for the house in Hubbard Park. Commission exited executive session at 9:10 pm. Bill moved to adjourn and Dan seconded. Commission adjourned at 9:10 pm. www.montpelier-vt.org/464/Parks-Commission parks-commission@montpelier-vt.org 802.223.7335