WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The new subcommittee for a dog park in Wausau met for the first time on Monday.
Five citizens and two city council members met at Wausau City Hall Monday night to begin the process of having an urban dog park in downtown Wausau. Alderperson and committee Chair Tom Neal says this initial meeting was mainly for the committee to get to know one another and discuss ideas.”This was a get to know and talk about the big picture. Talk about how we might utilize our personal resources and skills to move this thing along and what our options might be. So I think this is a good start.”
Neal says the benefit of a mixed committee is that each person brings something different to the table to reach the goal. “Different people on the committee are going to have different skills, contacts within the city, things they can bring to the table. It’s great if this committee member, for instance, knows somebody who can help the project along. Maybe somebody in an industry or something, somebody like a material supplier.”
Topics discussed during the committee’s first meeting were the proposed site illustrations, potentially taking a phased approach to the project and potential parking. Several ideas were brought forward in regards to how the site could be used, such as separating the park into different areas for smaller and larger dogs and what turf to use. There was also discussion of purchasing a private area near the park to use as parking or more area for the park.
The current site for the dog park is at 224 S. 4th Street behind the downtown post office that is around 2.5 acres. The committee is fairly set on that area for the park, but Neal says there could be other sites to have a dog park. The committee is hopeful that after the first park is built, they could perhaps build more dog parks around the city, with thoughts of putting one out in the far west side.
Moving forward after this meeting, Neal says the next step for the committee is to plan out what they would like to do for the next agenda. “What they think after tonight’s meeting. What they think they might like to do, who they might want to talk to, a resource they have in mind, that sort of thing. So we can identify and then build an agenda, come together again to see where we’re at.”
Neal believes it’s possible the dog park could be open sometime in 2019 with private funding but says the ideal park will most likely be done in 2020.
