New Off Leash Task Group.

[Carolyn Bates]

Hello everyone.
The Parks and Recreation Dept. is assembling a new committee of people/
dog owners to assist in developing a strategic approach to improve and
expand the offerings of off-leash dog areas in Burlington. Please see
the details below in a letter from Mari Steinbach - they would like
each NPA to recruit one person per Ward to serve on this committee by
August 22. Since many of you are not meeting in August, this may
require some special outreach to neighbors who you think would be
interested and suitable to be involved in this effort. I am happy to
help you with this recruting process as needed. Thank you for your
help with this. Best regards, Jenny. 865-7172.

August 3, 2011
Greetings!

As you may be aware, for the past several months there was a community
interest group, identified as Livable City 4 Dogs, working to develop
dialogue and action around off-leash areas within the City of
Burlington. This has not been a group with which the Department had
formally interacted, although we had been aware of its existence and
some of the discussion.

The Department now is interested in formally establishing a community
work group to assist in developing a strategic approach to improve and
expand the City of Burlington's Off-Leash areas. For your benefit, we
have outlined the scope of what we intend, below. This is not solely
about developing dog parks; rather, our intent is to inform policy
throughout the parks and recreation system, which could include
developing formal off-leash areas or operating hours or any number of
related topics.

We want your NPA involvement, to help ensure a well-balanced
representation from across the city. We are hoping that through your
NPA process, you can identify an individual willing to serve on this
working group. As you can see from the timeline on the attached
outline, we want to convene this working group by September 1, so hope
that you could help secure a contact for us by August 22, preferably.

Please advance the name of the contact from your NPA to Jen Stauber at
864-0123 or jsta...@ci.burlington.vt.us by August 22. Please let us
know if you have questions, in the meantime, also!

Thanks so much, in advance! We look forward to this additional
mechanism for involvement with our community, and hope for your
participation.
Best,
Mari Steinbach, CPRP, MPA
Parks & Recreation Director

I. IDENTIFICATION OF OFF-LEASH WORK GROUP

The Department of Parks and Recreation seeks to establish a community
work group to assist in developing a strategic approach to improve and
expand the offerings of the City of Burlington Off-Leash Areas.  This
group will have a maximum capacity of (7) community members, one
representing each ward.  In an effort to establish a balanced process,
it is preferable that community work group members are also dog
owners.

This work group will work directly with Mari Steinbach, Director of
the Department of Parks and Recreation, and Jen Stauber, the City’s
Parks Planner, to develop both the physical attributes of Off-Leash
Areas and the policy measures to ensure safe, communal usage.  Dan
Cahill, Land Steward, and Deryk Roach, Superintendent of Parks
Operations will also provide valuable input during this process.

II. ESTABLISHMENT OF GOALS & OUTCOMES

Once a work group has been identified, their first charge will be to
clearly define goals for the City of Burlington’s Off-Leash Areas.  A
further priority will be to illustrate tangible outcomes that work in
conjunction with this definition of goals.  This will require
collective research and evaluation of successful national off-leash
programs to reference as precedents.

III. OFF-LEASH PHYSICAL PLANNING

The work group will then assist in the strategic evaluation of current
off-leash facilities in order to identify the City’s need for off-
leash expansion.

The work group and Department staff will catalogue existing sites in
the form of an inventory to include information on location, size of
park, amenities, water access, etc.  This exercise will reveal current
deficiencies within existing facilities and support Parks Operations
creation of a maintenance plan that will ensure the improvement of
existing Off-Leash Areas.

This will be followed by a thorough investigation into/analysis of
future expansion sites that documents private and public options,
amenities, and access potentials with vigilant consideration of how
potential sites will meet the needs of city off-leash expansion.

III. OFF-LEASH POLICY PLANNING

After new and viable Off-Leash Areas have been identified, the work
group and Department staff will engage in developing off-leash
policy.  This includes revisiting and revising existing policy to
effectively define hours of use, terms of etiquette, safety standards,
ordinance language, maintenance practices, and a financial management
structure.

V. SCHEDULE

I. Identify Off-Leash Work Group                (4 wks)         August 1 – August 22, 2011
II. Establish Goals & Outcomes          (8 wks)         September 1 – October 31,
2011
III. Physical Planning of Off-Leash Areas       (12 wks)        November 1 –
January 31, 2011
IV. Policy Planning for Off-Leash Areas (12 wks)        January 1 – March 31,
2011

It is the intention that upon completion of this effort, the physical
expansion of the City’s Off-Leash Areas may be initiated in the late
spring of 2012.

Carolyn L. Bates Photography

Email:    cba...@carolynbates.com

Address:    PO Box 1205, Burlington, VT 05402

Phone:    (802) 238-4213

Website:   www.CarolynBates.com

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