Young Professionals group proposes dog park for Middletown

Middletown’s Young Professionals organization is stepping up again to improve the quality of life in the community.

Representatives of the two-year-old organization made a presentation to City Council earlier this week for a proposed dog park somewhere in the city. The group was seeking council’s support so it could begin fund-raising for the project.

Jeff Repper, president of the organization, emphasized to council the group’s interest in quality of life issues and its commitment to Middletown. The organization has about 25 members and has sponsored events such as the Color Vibe run, the Latino festival and the movies in the parks program.

During his introduction, City Manager Doug Adkins said, “the Young Professionals have done a fantastic job with everything they’ve done.”

Repper told council they felt a dog park could be very beneficial to the city, and in addition to improving the quality of life, the proposed dog park could be an amenity that would be attractive to young people and families and could increase property values. The dog park would also keep local dog owners in Middletown instead of having to travel to parks in other communities such as Lebanon, Hamilton and the Voice of America Park in West Chester.

Repper said the group met with the city’s Park Board in October.

“They asked for a high-level plan,” he said. “They wanted us to develop a white paper.”

According to minutes from the Park Board’s Oct. 5 meeting, the Young Professionals proposed finding a three-acre site that would include an area for large breed dogs and for small breed dogs. Three possible locations were identified — Sunset and Smith parks and the old Roosevelt School site.

Park Board members suggested the group also consider Gladdell and Damon parks; meeting with the caretakers of other area dog parks as well as the city health board; and how and who would maintain the dog park five to 10 years from now, according to the minutes. After that was completed, the group should go to the public works department then come back to the Park Board with a more formal proposal to get their recommendation and backing to forward it to City Council.

Mayor Larry Mulligan Jr. said he was in full support of the proposal and added a dog park had been discussed a few years ago.

Adkins said the group was seeking council support so that they could work with staff to finalize a location, plan and timeline. He told the Journal-News on Thursday that he did not a time line on how fast it would come together.

“The location is up for discussion, although we have looked at the old Roosevelt school site as possibly a good fit,” Adkins said. “It is already fenced and is green space that would lend itself well to such a use.”

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