The Fernie Pets Society (FPS) has made a proposal to city council to construct temporary fencing around a portion of the Annex Park for an off-leash dog park.
President of the FPS Pierre Dupont said that the fencing the society is proposing is only meant to be temporary, while delays continue in the installation of a designated and fully-fenced off-leash dog park near Ridgemont.
Since 2005, Fernie dog owners have been utilizing the Annex Park and the area around the Fernie Aquatic Centre for off-leash dog activity but since late 2011, the FPS has been set on creating an official fenced dog park spanning from 4th Street to 13th Street between 1st Avenue and the Ridgemont subdivision.
They approached city council with the idea.
Given the area of land, a required environmental assessment (EA) and legal study of the property and its soil has since delayed the project.
“In the last couple of years we’ve been pushing for the environmental assessment and a legal survey to be done so we know where the actual property line is between CP Rail and other private property,” explained Dupont. “We needed to know where the actual fenceline would be and that the land was safe to use as a park. Cut to this year, 2015, and nothing has happened so far in terms of an EA or a legal survey. So we’re sort of twiddling our thumbs waiting for something to happen.”
Without immediate plans for the environmental assessment to move forward, Dupont said that fencing the Annex Park site was a provisional idea.
“We wanted to move forward with fencing one of the existing parks while waiting for the Ridgemont site to progress as we’re looking at a few years wait for the environmental assessment and clean up at the Ridgemont site to happen. So we decided to get things moving with a dog park somewhere that people could use,” explained Dupont.
According to Dupont, the fencing will cost approximately $16,000-18,000 at the expense of the FPS. Their fundraising efforts over the last four years have culminated in a total of $30,000 to spend on their permanent off-leash dog park project.
Dupont said the fencing covering a 2.2 acre area between 12th Avenue and the river will likely be split-post cedar fencing as it’s a “more attractive option” over traditional chain link fencing.
The FPS approached council with the temporary fencing idea on May 11 and were met with letters from nearby residents opposing the project.
Dupont said he believes the objections are a result of misunderstanding over what the project entails.
Further talks are planned with Fernie city council regarding the Annex Park fencing.
“[Council] is very sympathetic to the problem that nothing has happened over the last few years and they want to move forward with thism, but there has to be money in the budget for the assessment,” said Dupont.