THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2007
Dog Gone It!
Beggin' For Dog Parks, Elk Grovians Now Have Zip After Mix-Ups
By STEFAN SCHUMACHER
Journal Reporter
"They're gone...both of them."
That's what upset Elk Grove Park Board Commissioner Ron Nunes said about the demise of two planned dog parks at Morton Park and Powell Park.
The dog park at Morton was scheduled to open this past Saturday. However, because of a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regulation that prohibits fencing and animal feces in a floodway, the fence was torn down and the dog park was finished.
If there was a flood, feces or urine that collected in the dog park could flow into nearby Salt Creek, which is used for drinking water, according to Nunes.
"Which is kind of funny," he said, "because if you go over there there's thousands of geese just pooping all over the place."
At an emergency park board meeting last Thursday, the Park Board voted 3-1 to pull up the stakes and end the possibility of a dog park at Powell Park as well. The Powell dog park had not opened yet because the park district was waiting to see if there was increased demand for its use.
Why weren't the FEMA regulations taken into account when the fence was put up for the dog park at Morton?
The park district staff simply overlooked it, said Nunes.
"They blew it."
Nunes said why Powell had to go is still a mystery to him, but he supports the board's decision.
"I built a $10 million water park [Rainbow Falls] and I didn't have any complaints. I built two dog parks and you'd think I was killing these people," said Nunes.
"I was the only commissioner to hold to my convictions."
As reported in last Thursday's Elk Grove Journal, there had been complaints from residents who live near Powell. People were concerned about traffic problems, bad smells, and a loss of aesthetic beauty at the park, among other things.
Nunes said he was so upset after the meeting where the board voted to end the Powell dog park that he left town and went to his summer home.
He wasn't the only one who was upset. At least two residents showed up at Morton on Saturday to protest the dog park closings.
"Us and the other 99 families signed up," said Dennis Nolan, who visited the park with his wife and dog early Saturday morning. Over 100 dogs had been registered to use the dog park at Morton.
"I think the whole thing is very suspicious," Nolan went on. "I've never seen the federal government move so fast before. FEMA should be saving New Orleans. FEMA has nothing to do with the dog park at Powell Park. So far all the park commission has been able to do is disappoint a lot of people and waste a lot of money."
Nunes heard from a lot of disappointed people. He has said that the majority of Elk Grove residents wanted a dog park, and that the demand was going to be high for Powell as well as Morton.
"We had over 100 dogs signed up," said Nunes of Morton Park. "The demand clearly outweighed the people who weren't happy."
He said there is still a possibility that the Cook County Forest Preserve may allow them to use Woodland Meadows for a dog park, but that could be as much as a year down the line if it happens.
"You put all this work into something," said Nunes, "and in the blink of an eye it's gone."
Tyler Stoffel contributed to this report.