The Orange County Register

City to chip in for dog park

Oct. 14, 2004

Orange Dog Park Assiciation will pay 80 percent of 
building costs to make Yorba Park have a dog park. 


By JIT FONG CHIN
Orange City News 


The Orange City Council on Tuesday agreed the city 
will chip in 20 percent of the costs to build a two-acre
dog park at Yorba Park,  nailing down the details of an 
off-leash bark park that pet owners have been clamoring 
for since 2000.

Approval of the agreement means that Orange Dog Park 
Association, which stopped fund-raising at $25,000 when 
council enthusiasm started lagging, can resume fund-
raising efforts, association president Jeanine Lawrie said. 

Community Services Director Gary Wann estimates a dog park 
taking up a quarter of the space of 8-acre Yorba Park will 
cost $44,000, including building a berm, and drinking 
fountains for humans and dogs. 

It will take at least six months to complete the dog park. 
It will be the first dog park in Orange County's northern area. 

The association will pay 80 percent of the cost, up to a 
total of $35,212, and the city will pay the remaining $8,788.

The agreement lasts five years, beginning with the date
that the dog park improvements are completed and the park 
is open to the public. The association has an option 
to extend it for another five years. 

"Basically, we've come to the point where we've got to say, 
go, go, go," said Mayor Mark Murphy, who voted to approve 
the deal with council members Steve Ambriz and Joanne Coontz.

"I think it's something that we should decide today so 
that people can go and move on with their lives," Murphy said.

Ambriz, who was not in office when the council promised a 
dog park in 2000, complained he never got to see a tape of the 
2000 meeting because the tape was destroyed. He said he felt 
"horrible" the association was paying 80 percent, rather 
than 50 percent of the dog park costs.

Council members Mike Alvarez and Carolyn Cavecche voted against 
the deal. Cavecche said she still didn't think the park was a 
good site for a dog park, while Alvarez said he thought the site 
would be better used for commercial purposes.

The association will pay $20,000 upon the award of a contract 
for park improvements, then make annual payments of $3,803. 

Should the city end the agreement within the first five years, 
it will reimburse the association for the amount of association 
funds that were paid to the city. If the city ends it during the 
renewal term, it will return an amortized portion of funds. 

Yorba Park neighbors who have consistently protested a dog park 
blasted the council for arranging interest-free financing 
for the association. 

"It will set a bad precedent," said Jerry Carroll of Tracy 
Lane. "It sends a message to every organization and group that 
if there is a project you want to do, you raise the money, give it 
to the City Council, and you get a park."

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Copyright (c) 2004 The Orange County Register 
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