Merritt’s only off-leash dog park was destroyed by flood waters when the Coldwater River spilled its banks in Nov. 2021
There had long been complaints about the dog park, ranging from its size, lack of grass leading to muddy pets, and untidy or ineffective watering stations. The park’s location had also hampered the City’s plans to expand the Public Works yard.
As such, at the regular council meeting of March 8, council voted unanimously to move the park approximately 300 metres south, near Centennial Park.
The process of moving the park would be simple, as it would be compliant with zoning and no changes would need to be made to land use regulation.
The proposed park would offer ample parking and also be slightly larger than the former park.
Councillor Travis Fehr brought up the importance of having a “small dog separation” area, and Mayor Linda Brown said that citizens had often requested lighting, adequate water and seating.
“I’m hearing you want a high class dog park,” City CAO Sean Smith joked.
“I think so, I mean we’re going to redo it, why not?” said Mayor Brown.
Smith noted that while there wouldn’t be a large expenditure involved in the relocation, mainly fencing costs, there are insurance funds available for the relocation.
Councillor Fehr spoke in defense of the project, which has received criticism from some who feel it is not an important component of flood recovery.
“I’d like to speak to this in particular to those who I’ve seen make comments such as this should not be priority at this time,” said Fehr.
“The dog owners who have had their dogs pent up know the value of something like this. In addition to the fact that we have insurance that will cover at least the lion’s share of the cost here, that should be borne in mind, as well as the fact that the current dog park is destroyed and it would cost money to replace that. All things considered it, in my opinion, is definitely a prudent time to go ahead with this.”
