Request to fence in Martensville dog park deferred by city

A Martensville woman is leading the charge to get her city council to build a fence around its dog park. Keenan Sorokan has more.

Dog owner Pamela Warren feels it’s time for Martensville to have a fenced in dog park of its own.

Warren says a couple of close calls recently could have been worse. She says her dog bit a person on an e-bike and one man was hit by an ATV.

“I just think it’s time for Martensville to be proactive,” she said. “We want people to move into our community, they’re going to move in with dogs — let’s give them a space for those dogs to run.”

Martensville’s off-leash dog park is located at the southeastern edge of the city. The roughly 50-acre park has changed over time as Martensville has grown.

• Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts sent to your device

Once known as the Monkey Hills, the area lined with trees has a hill near the entrance which children use for tobogganing. There are also trails which are used for hiking and cycling, and the field has visible signs of snowmobile tracks.

Warren feels the park has too many uses, and it should be more welcoming for dogs.

“It’s not fair for the resident dogs that live there, for the people who pay taxes for them, that they don’t have an area that they can use free from anything else,” she said.

Mayor Kent Muench says concerns or improvement suggestions have come to him, but it’s usually on the street or while he’s out in town.

Warren was the first to formally suggest a new way forward when she gave a presentation to city council earlier this month.

Muench says with a finite amount of dollars at the city’s disposal, the dog park isn’t a big concern right now.

“Having a fence would be great,” he said. “But in terms of a young community and it’s growing lots of recreational needs, where does it line up in the priority list? And it currently isn’t on the list.”

Warren says she has a plan for that as well. She sought two quotes for fencing, which she says range from $135,000 to $230,000, and she doesn’t expect property taxes to pay for it.

She says sponsors can be found; the city can accept donations; grants could be used, and advertising on the fence could all cover the expenses.

“Not every taxpayer has a dog and uses a dog park, so why should they be paying for it?” she said.

Motorized vehicles including motorbikes and ATVs are not allowed in the dog park, but Warren says proper signage wasn’t posted for roughly two years.

Muench says before the city updates any bylaws or looks at adding a capital project, more consultation with residents is needed.

“Is it going to change from what it used to be, which was this big green space that people used and it became a dog park,” Muench said. “But it’s still other things to other people.”

Ultimately, council voted to have a yet-to-be-formed Green Spaces committee — which will be made up partly by community members — consider the matter and its priority within the city once it materializes later this year.

Warren feels the red tape for this issue is unnecessary, with more timely solutions readily available.

“If you’re going to have an unleashed dog park, do you not require it to be fenced?”