One site proposed for a dog park at Paper Mill Playground. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
Parks & Rec
commission
to meet
By CARL E. HARTDEGEN
Staff Writer
WESTFIELD – At their upcoming monthly meeting, the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission is expected to approve updated guidelines for users of city parks and playgrounds to encompass a recent change to the city ordinances prohibiting smoking of tobacco at the city’s recreational properties.
The City Council voted on Nov. 17, 2011, to ban smoking at all outdoor places of recreation because “second-hand smoke presents a serious and substantial hazard to the public health” and declared the “the need to breathe smoke-free air shall have priority over the desire to smoke in public places.”
The ordinance requires that private users of “outdoor places of recreation” be notified of the provision when application is made for private use of public properties.
Kenneth Magarian, the chairman of the commission, said Thursday that the commissioners will discuss the changes, which will be required due to the new ordinance and will ultimately approve a change to the Use of Area form provided to applicants for private use of parks and playgrounds.
The agenda for the meeting also includes discussion of a proposal to site a dog park at Paper Mill Playground.
The issue was debated by the commissioners at their January meeting and was the subject of discussion at a special meeting Feb. 9 to consider the proposal.
Many of the speakers at the special meeting expressed support for locating the dog park at the playground but three residents of the neighborhood, although they said they supported the concept of a playground for dogs, objected to locating the area at the playground citing parking, noise and safety concerns.
A Little League official also objected to the proposed dog park because it would limit the area available for baseball at one of the league’s two primary ball field complexes, both of which are located in city playgrounds.
Since that meeting, the City Council created an ad hoc committee to investigate alternate locations and funding for a dog park.
Magarian said “because of what the City Council people are doing” he expects the proposal for Paper Mill Playground to be tabled at the Parks and Recreation meeting without discussion.
The commissioners are also scheduled to make a required vote to elect a chairman, a chairman pro-tempore and a secretary.
Magarian said that he has been chairman of the commission “for a long time” and said that he again expects to stand for the position.
However, he said, “If someone else wants the chair, and they really want to do it, I might not even run.”
Also on the agenda is a request to approve an Eagle Scout project involving the old burial grounds on Mechanic Street but Magarian said he does not have any advance information about that request.
The commission meeting will be on Monday in Room 315 at City Hall at 7:30 p.m.
Carl E. Hartdegen can be reached at [email protected]
