Thirteen residents representing Wards One, Two, Three, Five and Six attended the Dog Owners Task Force Meeting for April 2006, as well as Ward Four Alderman Walter Pero and Ward Five Alderman Sean O’Donovan. Stan Koty, Commissioner of Public Works, Arn Franzen, Senior Project Manager, and Carlene Campbell, Community Relations Manager were also present.

The following items were on the agenda:

I. Ward 5 & 6- Proposed OLRA’s on Community Path
II. Ward 2 - Perry Park
III. Ward 1 - Kemp Nut site
IV. Update on new Animal Control Officer
V. Updates on issues regarding Nunziato Field

• complaints received to City from neighbors
  
• needing an additional airlock gate at Putnam Street
  
• schedule of stone dust installation
  
• addressing the small dog issue current airlock
  
• black board

I. Ward 5 & 6- Proposed OLRA’s on Community Path

An abridged version of the presentation about potential sites for off-leash recreational areas was presented, focusing on sites on the Community Path at Cedar Street (approx. 3900 sq. ft.), at Lexington Park (approx. 4000 sq. ft.) and at Willow Avenue (approx. 1890 sq. ft.).

Alderman O’Donovan expressed his appreciation for the work that residents in Ward Five and Six put into the proposal. He supported the three locations to be presented to the community at a neighborhood meeting.

Campbell said that she would speak with Ward Six Alderman, Rebekah Gewirtz, who could not attend the meeting due to a scheduling conflict. With the support of the Ward Aldermen and the Commissioner, she would go to the Mayor to request permission to schedule a community meeting at the end of May.

Residents reported that the City of Somerville’s new Animal Control Officer had been out on the Community Path earlier that evening, and that she had been threatening people with $100 fines. Campbell replied that she had a meeting with the Animal Control Officer scheduled for the following day. Also, Campbell observed that the fine for dogs off-leash is $25.

II. Ward 2 - Perry Park

Senior Project Manager, Arn Franzen, presented the plans for the renovation of Perry Park (on Washington Street, between Dane and Leland Streets). Construction is scheduled to begin in Fall 2006.

The dog area, Franzen conceded, is not intended as a recreational area. It is located in the back right (northeast) corner of the park and is accessed by a separate entrance and walkway along the right (east) side of the park. It will have a bubbler with a dog bowl, a double-gated entry (from the walkway) and a second single gate for egress into the main area of Perry Park. Its dimensions are defined by a circular walking path around a central grassy area that comprise the central feature of the main park area.

Residents’ queries about the dimensions of the dog area were left unanswered.

Upon learning that the circular walking path, which sets that boundary of the dog area, will be located where there is a walking path in the existing park, a resident stated that she knows the corner of the park well: it is very small; it is the darkest spot in the park; it is not visible from the street; it is bordered by buildings on two sides. She would not walk there with her two Golden Retrievers after dark.

A resident who lives in the neighborhood and also knows the corner of the park well said that the proposed fenced-in dog area is the equivalent of a “cage:” “You are giving the residents of Ward 2 a cage for their dogs.”

A Ward 2 resident, familiar with reports of increased gang activity in the neighborhood, said that the City would be endangering residents to relegate them to a dark enclosed space, removed from and with no line of sight to the street. He stated that in the Perry Park renovation, the City is designing a dog area that will fail. As a member of the Dog Owners Task Force, he could not support a proposal that will fail.

Koty also raised concerns about the current design.

Franzen agreed to take the plans back to the architects and ask them to redesign the off-leash recreational area.

III. Ward 1 - Kemp Nut site

Franzen, presented the plans for a new park on the site of the former Kemp Nut factory. The area for people and pets in the new park is approximately 1600 sq. ft., a long irregular rectangle (trapezoid), 78 feet long and 20 feet wide, on average, to the south of Skilton Avenue. It will have two gated entrances, one with a double gate. The Task Force strongly recommended a double-gated “air-lock” at the second entrance. The surface will be stone dust with a drainage system and a hose hook-up for urine abatement. The dog area will also have a bubbler with a dog bowl (doggie drinking fountain).

The Task Force strongly recommended a double-gated “air-lock” at the second entrance.

Koty observed that using a hose for urine abatement presents a significant cost to the Department of Public Works in manpower; he recommended that the sprinkler system planned for the main area of the park be extended to cover the dog area.

Residents who attended community meetings for the park at the Kemp Nut Site confirmed that they the community had supported the architects’ plans for the dog area.

Others familiar with the project at the Kemp Nut Site, suggested that the dog area may prove to address a need for an off-leash area for small dogs in Somerville.

IV. Update on new Animal Control Officer

Campbell announced that the City’s new Animal Control Officer started on the job on April 11: she had scheduled a meeting with the ACO for the following day, and had invited her to attend a future Dog Owners Task Force meeting.

V. Updates on issues regarding Nunziato Field

• complaints received to City from neighbors

Two complaints have been received from the owner of a nearby condominium, and the corresponding solutions were discussed:

1. people are using the off-leash area before 8:00 a.m.
1. The rules for the off-leash recreational area will be posted on the City website and Cable Wheel
2. A letter will be mailed to owners of licensed dogs informing them of the rules for off-leash recreation
3. By word of mouth, park users can (and do) inform one another of OLRA rules and any known issues relating to non-compliance
2. there are more cars in the neighborhood
1. To restrict parking on a residential street to Somerville residents only, residents may submit a formal petition for Residential Permit Parking on their street.

• needing an additional airlock gate at Putnam Street

  The DPW will install a second, ADA compliant gate at the Putnam Street entrance to the OLRA. The cost will be borne by DPW’s budget.

• schedule of stone dust installation

  Stone dust (decomposed granite) has been ordered.

• addressing the small dog issue current airlock

  DPW will look into regrading the area at the gates to the tree well with dirt or stone dust

• blackboard

  A park user has suggested that a chalk board or other type of community bulletin board be installed in the off-leash recreational area. She observed that a community bulletin board could augment the efforts of park users to share useful information with one another. For example, one reason that it is difficult to communicate by word of mouth about the issue of people using the area before the park opens at 8:00 is that the people who know about the issue do not use the park before 8:00 and the people who are using the park before 8:00 do not know about the issue. With a community bulletin board, the people who know about the issuer can communicate with the people who are using the park before 8:00.

  Koty stated that the City would require a consistent bulletin board design for all OLRAs.

  Campbell requested that Task Force members bring suggestions and, if possible, photographs of community bulletin boards from other parks to the next meeting.

VI. Update on Washington St or Cobble Hill Site

Campbell informed the Task Force that the open space in Cobble Hill, behind the Holiday Inn, on New Washington Street at Inner Belt Road, which was previously committed to East Somerville dog owners for an off-leash recreational area went up for surplus land to the BOA and was sent to Committee, possibly the Committee on Land Use.

The City plans to set aside a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this property for off-leash recreational areas in the city.

Task Force members observed that the ongoing open space crisis in the City is a greater priority than the current fiscal crisis. One of the reasons that the Cobble Hill site was so attractive to us for an off-leash recreational area was that it has virtually no residential abutters; we anticipated no opposition to a proposal for an off-leash area in the unused space on New Washington Street.

The Mayor has scheduled a meeting with Campbell and Michele Biscoe as the leader of the Somerville Dog Owners Group regarding the Cobble Hill site. Biscoe stated that because this is not merely a dog owner issue, but an open space issue and an East Somerville issue that it is appropriate that the Ward One resident who has served on the Task Force since its inception in August 2004 also attend the meeting with the Mayor.