The Kenai City Council passed a resolution that would authorize the use of additional land at the Daubenspeck Family Park for expansion of the dog park. A prior resolution designated land for the development of an off-leash dog park.
Since that time, a group of volunteers have worked on fundraising and construction of the dog park. A substitute ordinance provided $25,000 in the FY22 Operating Budget for the Park in addition to a separate ordinance providing for $63,000 for the park, but despite the prior appropriation of land, additional land is needed to properly complete the project, seen as the first of its kind in the city and aims to provide additional recreational opportunities for residents and visitors.
This resolution, which passed, would designate an additional 0.52 acres of land west of the current dog park to support completion of the Kenai Dog Park, which would bring it to a size of 1.43 acres. An amendment to the resolution states that funding for the fencing, materials, and installation for the additional 0.52 acres will be funded by the dog park donations through the Kenai Community Foundation.
Council Member Teea Winger spoke in favor of the resolution saying:
“We have .91 of an acre and that’s going to include a small dog park that’s going to include the gazebo and entry space and then we have this ability to want a great functioning agility park. You start looking at four to twelve pieces, from everything I’ve researched, twelve pieces is about the average agility equipment area, which usually takes about a half an acre. So if we want to drive people in for this use that is an obvious need within our community, just this land donation alone would make sure that they have a proper setup for agility. This gives a lot of room for people with large dogs. We have to remember; people have large dogs. When you start looking at large dogs, they do need an adequate amount of space to roam and exercise.”
The group of volunteers spearheading the project, the Kenai Dog Park Friends, requested city assistance in making sure they have an adequate land footprint needed for a successful project.
