Councilors seek dog park committee
By DAN MORIARTY
Staff Writer
WESTFIELD – Two members of the City Council will request creation of a special committee to identify a location for construction of a dedicated dog park in the city.
Ward 6 Councilor Christopher Crean and At-large Councilor James R. Adams recently attended a public hearing conducted by the Parks & Recreation Commission pertaining to a proposal to locate the park at Paper Mill Road Playground.
“What I’m hearing from my constituents is that everybody likes the concept, but nobody likes the (Paper Mill Playground) location,” Crean said this morning.
Crean said he and Adams will petition Council President Christopher Keefe to create a special advisory committee composed of council members and citizens, including members of the Friends of the Westfield Dog Bark.
“They have a good idea,” Crean said. “The Park and Recreation Department has done a good job trying to identify a suitable location, but we need to look at all of the resources available, all of the city property.”
“The city is looking to construct a new kennel at the Turnpike Industrial Park, so that could be a good location for the dog park,” Crean said.
City Advancement Officer Jeff Daley said recently that the city is planning to set aside between 4 and 6 acres of land in the southwest quadrant of the proposed industrial park, the area furthest from abutting residential areas, for construction of a regional dog kennel.
Development of the Turnpike Industrial Park and construction of the kennel “is still several years away, so we may need to find a temporary location for a dog park,” Daley said this morning.
Crean said that the goal of the advisory committee is to identify “a permanent solution. It gives us time to plan it and do it properly.”
“The park, as a municipal facility, has to be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant, which sort of limits options,” Crean said. “The kennel also has to be ADA compliant, so co-locating both facilities may be our best option. That’s what the advisory panel will have to assess.”
Dan Moriarty can be reached at [email protected]
