At its meeting last
month, the Chesterton Park Board announced that--with the proceeds of the
2015 bond issue completely spent on a wide variety of high-profile
improvement projects--it’s now in the market for some big bang/small buck
ideas.
It was with that in
mind that Kim Goldak floated the notion of dog run at Dogwood Park at the
Park Board’s meeting Tuesday night.
“There is clearly
an ample amount of room,” Goldak said, and the project itself would be “low
cost,” needing not much more than the “simple fencing of a large area and
another smaller squared holding pen area with two gates and couple of
wastebaskets and doggie bags.”
“There would be
nothing to do in the interior of the fenced-in area,” Goldak explained. “It
would act as a place to throw a ball and not have your dog run away. Perhaps
the Park Department already has some fencing that could be used. It’s a
matter of putting the posts in. Either the Park Department could do this or
we could request Rebuilding Together to take up this project.”
“And we could start
a fund to help pay for the bags or request donations from various pet
companies so the cost to the town is minimal,” Goldak added.
Members liked the
idea very much but did express some concerns, namely, over the likelihood
that scofflaw dog owners wouldn’t clean up after their canines and over the
town’s liability in the case of dog bite.
Associate Town
Attorney Connor Nolan told members that he would research the issue and
determine “what immunity might apply and what liability issues there might
be, in addition to injuries.”
Members voted
unanimously to take the matter under advisement.
Duneland Soccer
Club
In other business,
members voted unanimously to grant usage of the soccer fields at Dogwood
Park East to the Duneland Soccer Club for the 2020 spring and fall seasons.
Mark O’Dell,
president of Duneland Soccer, said that 313 kids, in 31 teams from U-6 to
U-14, will be participating this season, and as is usual he made a donation
to the Park Gift Fund, in the amount of $939: $3 per child.
O’Dell also noted
that, as is usual, Duneland Soccer will provide the paint for striping the
fields, at a rough cost of $3,000; will maintain and fertilize the fields,
at a cost of $1,000; and will provide five portable restrooms throughout the
spring, summer, and fall, at a cost of $5,000. In addition, Duneland Soccer
has purchased and donated to the Park Department a $900 roller.
O’Dell noted that,
during the summer, a men’s soccer league, then a women’s, and then the CHS
boys soccer team, all use the fields at Dogwood Park East.
Corkscrew and Brew
Members also voted
unanimously to grant usage of Thomas Centennial Park to the Duneland Chamber
of Commerce for its annual Corkscrew and Brew event, from 12 to 4 p.m.
Saturday, March 14, with the understanding that setup will begin at 9 a.m.
that day and tear-down completed by 6 p.m.
Approximately 20
beer and wine vendors will be at Corkscrew and Brew, with live music in the
bandstand. The Chamber will be providing some additional portable restrooms
to complement the boxcar restroom at Thomas Park.
Duneland Flyers
And members voted
unanimously to grant usage of one of the two diamonds at Dogwood Park West
to the Duneland Flyers from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays; and both of the diamonds
from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays.
The Park Board
accepted a $400 donation from the Duneland Flyers.
At their January
meeting, members granted the Indiana Lightning travel teams usage of the
other of the two diamonds at Dogwood Park West from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays;
and one of the diamonds at Dogwood Park East from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursdays.
Department Update
Meanwhile,
Assistant Superintendent Shane Griffin reported that the shelter at Dogwood
Park West immediately west of the playground has been removed and a new one
is under construction there.
Griffin also
reported that the department is in the process of hiring a new full-time
maintenance worker.
Trail Signage
Town Engineer Mark
O’Dell, for his part, reported that uniform wayfaring signage is being
installed along the Town of Chesterton’s length of the Prairie Duneland
Trail, purchased through an 80/20 grant from the Northwestern Indiana
Regional Planning Commission.
Most notably, a
sign has been placed at the eastern terminus of the trail, off South 15th
Street. O’Dell said that he can’t say for sure whether another
sign--welcoming eastbound users to Chesterton and westbound users to
Portage--has yet been installed on the west side of the bridge over Ind.
149.
Welcome to Liaison
President Candy
Tucker took a moment at the end of the meeting to welcome the Town Council’s
2020 liaison to the Park Department, Member Jennifer Fisher, I-5th. “I look
forward to working with you,” Tucker said.