Montrose - Daily Press

Robert Allen

Daily Press Writer

MONTROSE — Community members unleashed opinions in favor of a dog park during a Montrose Parks Advisory Board meeting Wednesday evening.

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“They (dogs) really are part of families. They’re part of society,” Gordon Williams said. They contribute by leading the blind, working security, finding drugs and providing companionship, he said.

Williams played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Canyon View Dog Park and is an active member of Friends of the Dog Park in Grand Junction. He came to Montrose to walk the community members through the steps toward fetching a dog park of their own.

Williams dug up the idea when traveling the country with his wife and two dogs in a mobile home. The countless dog parks they found across California and other states provided hospitable grounds for exercise and recreation. The family hightailed it home and, after some convincing, persuaded the city of Grand Junction to budget $30,000 and three and a half acres for the park, Williams said.

About 20 people attended Wednesday’s meeting, several of whom offered to make donations toward a local dog park. There were no barks, howls nor whimpers in opposition.

Nearly everyone attending had something positive to say about the idea. Some pointed out that dog parks are not only great places to exercise canines, but also to meet people.

“Anything to increase the social life in Montrose would be good,” Jeff Precup said.

Possible locations were discussed, including Sunset Mesa and areas near the intersection of Niagara Road and Pavilion Drive. However, this is merely the first step in the process, as the Montrose City Council suggested the meeting to gather community input.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Terry McCoige said. “Dogs don’t get an opportunity in this town to get off-leash.”

For a dog park in Montrose to become a reality, it must be citizen driven. This is how the skate park came to be, Dennis Erickson, parks planner, said.

Although it is possible for a dog park to be built in Montrose by summer, the biggest hurdle to jump will be location, Erickson said. It will have to be put where people will not object to it.

He said the greatest expense would be to provide sufficient fencing around the park.

The parks advisory board passed out a draft of 16 rules for the potential park, to give people an idea of what to expect. All dogs must be licensed and vaccinated, wearing visible licenses at all times. In addition, children under 8 are not allowed entry and children aged 9 to 15 must be accompanied by adults, according to the draft.

Williams said that this rule is important because dogs can play and spar rather roughly. Most of the time they do this for fun, but can pose a threat to children.

After the meeting adjourned, interested parties discussed forming a community organization to gain support for the park. Those interested may contact Julie Williams at sewcrazy81@aol.com.

Contact Robert Allen via e-mail at roberta@montrosepress.com

Comments

marqthompson wrote on Feb 1, 2010 3:21 AM:

" This is a wonderful article. The things given are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone.
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marqthompson
Noosa real estate "




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Kaitlyn Heichel wrote on Nov 3, 2009 2:01 PM:

" My dad was Robert Heichel and i just wanted to thank again everyone that helped looked for him. It was over 3 years ago that he died, but i will never forget him. I think about him still every single day and life without him is so hard. Thank you everyone who spent time looking for him. I wish this could have been a happy ending but life isn't fair. My dad died when i was 12 and i am now almost 16. Thank you again for everything you guys have done. Your amazing. "




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Sarah Bond wrote on Jul 13, 2009 5:31 PM:

" It really makes me sick that people lie about certain events to make themselves look better than they really are... Just to set the record straight, one of those stories is extremely false. Email me if you want the real story from the person who was actually there. "




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