Request for a temporary dog run during arena construction

Bridget Blackadder, president of the Westmount Dog Owner’s Association, asked the following questions during the first question period at the June 7th City Council Meeting.

Bridget Blackadder: Bridget Blackadder, Springfield Avenue. Two-part question for the mayor and council. Do we have an expected start date for the construction of the arena, and, do we have an idea of how long the noisy, messy, construction might last?

Mayor Trent: Perhaps I could ask the chairman of the arena committee, but we're talking early next year I suppose breaking ground?

Chairman: I would say to just looking at a timeline of what is reasonably possible given that we are getting into the more detailed design phases and then we have to go to tender etc., It would be unrealistic to think that any construction would begin in the year 2010. .So you could pick, if it were it would be at the very end of the year or the beginning of next year would be the earliest possible date when you could imagine the start. That actually is an advantage in the sense that when you are doing excavation and that kind of thing which is the messy and the noisy part, it’s winter and people’s windows are closed so you know, there’s an advantage to actually getting that work done then so that could work in our favour And then a project of this size should take about 18 months, but it reaches a phase after a year I would say where you’re working indoors, right, so. ..

Mayor Trent: dust..

Chairman: Such as it is..

Bridget Blackadder: indoors, under doors..

Chairman: Yes so..

Bridget Blackadder: The reason I ask is that during the heavy construction, the dog run at Lansdowne will have to be closed. The construction folk are going to need that space for making their messes and, you know, for safety reasons the dogs and their walkers and owners. So I’m putting in front of council the need to add something else to the To Do list. We have to find an adequately sized, safely fenced, appropriately lit, dog run for, we’ll call it between 12 and 18 months. And I guess we’d best get started now. So who do I speak to? Who is going to get this yummy little mini-project started?

Chairman: I think you just did. We will have of course a checklist, this is just one of them, traffic considerations…all kinds of things… that need to be managed in the course of this project and that's definitely one of them.

Bridget Blackadder: I would like to, I will write you a letter listing out what I think the dog folk would believe to be an appropriate..

Chairman: That would be very helpful

Bridget Blackadder: ..substitute with any caveats that we know from history, and then I’ll get on the phone to you.

Chairman: That would be very helpful and I would thank you for it.

Council Meeting: Q&A on the dog runs

Transcript of the June 7^th, 2010 Council Meeting

First question Period

Paul Creighton: My name is Paul Creighton, Mr. Mayor, and I live at 437 Argyle. Two questions if I may, both relating to the dog runs. But first I would like to offer a note of congratulations for the work done on the Lansdowne run with the resurfacing of the surface area with a) appropriately sized gravel, and b) an appropriate depth of the gravel. I say this with some trepidation cause the last time I congratulated you, the mavens in the public works heard about it and with the speed of the Hadron collider the congratulated item was removed. Anyway, I’m sure that won’t happen this time. It’s harder to pick up gravel bits than it is to pick up fence.

Mayor Trent: So the subjects of your congratulations tend to become ephemeral?

Creighton: That’s right, that’s right exactly. My question number one. The last council meeting you will recall Mr. Mayor, we broke down the initial improvements of the dog runs into what nature would do and what the department of public works would do. Nature has done its course in that at least one of the plants at the Lansdowne run, I believe it is called Solomon’s Shield (sic) is now at least three or four feet above the level of the fence and is growing randomly and rapidly, perhaps in a way that will not meet the approval of the priorities advisory committee but never the less very good growth. The rest of the hedging is basically cedar, and it has grown about an inch as it has not been cut as Mr. Martin said Public Works would not do. So it is progressing slowly on that side. On the other side, public works was, I understand, to purchase a variety of shrubs that were thick and fast growing. To date there have been none planted. Can I ask you whether any have actually been purchased, and if not why not?

Mayor Trent: Who wants to answer that one? Who is the expert on planting for dog runs?

Paul Creighton: Cynthia Lulham, what has happened to the shrubs?

Cynthia Lulham: um, I don’t know. As far as I know, Claudette Savaria has ordered them and they’re to be planted. I noticed that a lot of other shrubs haven’t been planted yet so I assume they’re all coming together.

Paul Creighton: This will all be done before fall though, I hope

Cynthia Lulham: Oh yes, yes

Creighton: One must always check

Cynthia Lulham: I promise, I promise. I’ll email you tomorrow

Paul Creighton: Winter wheat is very good in the fall, and tulips too but shrubs not

Cynthia Lulham: I will take note and email you tomorrow with the time

Creighton: Now, the next question if I may. The maintenance gates at both the dog runs are in deplorable condition. At least one has been at least opened and closed and that was the one at Lansdowne to get the trucks in with the gravel. Can anyone tell me when work might be done on the replacement of, or repair of either or both gates?

Mayor Trent: who is the gatekeeper huh?

Cynthia Lulham: Well, researching shrubs, I’ll do gates too.

Paul Creighton: You will. Good, so it’s done then.

Mayor Trent: Gates and shrubs.

Hear this for yourself at: (http://www.westmount.org/page.cfm?Section_ID=1&Menu_Item_ID=61)

$80,000 approved to landscape green spaces - does this include the dog runs?

By-law 1390 "to provide a loan in the amount of $80,000 for landscaping of parks and green spaces in the city" has been approved, according to the May 2010 Meeting Minutes. Does this mean that some of that money might be put toward landscaping and beautifying the dog run? This might be one of the questions to put forward at the next council meeting, set for Monday July 5th at 8 PM, 2010.

Compare and contrast : Lansdowne : WAG : Murray Hill

Take a look at these images:
This is the fence at the Westmount Athletic Ground dog run, fishing net nailed into 2x4's.

Here is one view of the Murray Hill Dog Run.

And here is one view of the new fence at the Murray Hill Tennis Court.

hmmmmm. I don't think there is much doubt that a tennis payer is likely to climb out the sides...

Chaucer tries to jump the fence - several times.mov

Height at Lansdowne Dog Run.mov

New Gate

Newly repaired gate - thanks Westmount public Security!

Repaired Service Gate?

As of last weekend - June 11-13th - the slumped service gate at the run was somewhat repaired. By a decree of council? No. The gate, which had been sagging, was wide enough for a small dog to CRAWL through. Security was called, and once on site, used industrial ties to eliminate the gap between the gates and to make the entire wretched thing almost vertical. And almost small-dog-escape-proof.

Further to council, results from last week's June meeting were non conclusive on the subject of the dog run. When asked to confirm whether or not the cedar shrubs to enhance the existing fence line had been purchased, the result was an unequivocal hmmm - "we'll look into it."

Starting today, I'm going to post a list of jumpers, jump dates, preferred takeoff and landing spots, and capture time to begin a public record of the number of escapes and invite readers to do the same.

I will post the newly tied and more upright security fence shortly.

May 4th 2010

The Dog Run is all about the fun, the play, the biscuits and the balloons

Witness Murdoch, Chaucer's best friend, gazing longingly at the birthday balloons...

The dog run is a fabulous place to socialize, both for the dogs and their owners, a place of civic engagement where information is shared, issues discussed, solutions proposed and sentiments shared.

Westmount Independent

Westmount Independent, December 1-2, 2009

Dog owners to Westmount: ‘Build up this wall’
Some of Westmount’s dog owners staged a small demonstration at the Lans- downe dog run on November 27.
Their issue? The owners – led by Paul Creighton, who has attended several city council meetings on the same issue – would like to see two feet of fence added to the current barrier, given that some dogs have escaped in the past, including Creighton’s dog Chaucer.
As shown in the photograph, some dogs can easily look over the fence, even when there is no snow. Chaucer was guided to mount the fence, but Murdoch needed no encouragement. Despite the Independent’s suggestion, no dog was allowed to attempt a fence-jump because they are being trained by their owners not to do so.
Creighton’s daughter, Amy Creighton, contends that most North American dog fences are four to five feet high and West- mount’s are in the two feet to three-and- half feet range.
The owners are also interested in the idea of adding hedge height or depth (including an inside hedge), but other people see a higher hedge as a public safety issue.
From left, Paul Creighton with Chaucer, Cathy Blundell with Murdoch, and Sherril with Pici. Not pictured: Mike Haimes with Buster.

Ancient History, or putting things in perspective

Friday April 3, 2009

Dear Councilor Bowser

As the council member responsible for Westmount parks I am writing to ask that you work to resolve tow key longstanding issues at the Lansdowne dog run. These problems affect not only for the dogs and people using the run, but passersby and the streams of traffic at that very busy intersection.

The two issues are the inadequate height of the fence and the shoddy state of disrepair of the gates and gate hardware. A third concern is that of the sharp rocks used to replace the existing pea gravel by the site evaluators/soil analysts last year, but that is not the real focus of this email.

In terms of the fence, dog runs in Canada and the US on average have fences that are between four and six feet in height. The Lansdowne run is about three and a bit feet tall. The fence itself is uneven, with some spots being 27 inches, some 30, some 42 inches. Three and a bit give or take feet is not tall enough to keep dogs in who are determined to get out.

This past winter, the fence was clearly inadequate, with the snow in some places being almost as tall as the fence, making it a real challenge to keep some dogs in. in fact, several dog owners stopped bringing their dogs to the run because they couldn’t be sure that they’d be able to keep them in the run. Even shorter dogs were able to hop out as the snow level was in some places as tall as the garbage bins!

During your absence over the winter Councilor Forbes arranged for the placement of recycled Christmas trees around the lowest bits of the fence to increase the height of the existing fence as a deterrent – and, for the most part, it worked.

Since then however, my dog has leapt the fence three times, racing out into Lansdowne the last time right into oncoming traffic. Luckily nothing happened (I had a good grip on his tail at this point), but the person driving did not slow down or even seem to acknowledge that we were in the middle of the road.

The concern with the gates is their state of repair. The two that actually open are in terrible shape, in fact, I think the hinges have been broken for the past six or so months. Over the winter, the inside gate was frozen open for the last two months making it challenging for people and pets to enter the run, especially those citizens who are a little older and less confident on ice. The other gate, the one closer to Westmount Park, doesn’t open at all as it has been chained shut.

Gates should open and close easily. Fences should be tall enough that people walking on the outside of the fence are not fearful that the dogs will jump out. Fences should be tall enough that the people on the inside are not fearful that their dogs will jump out, or that aggressive dogs will not be able to jump in.

The dog runs should continue to be very real communities of like minded people who come together with their pets in secure areas to meet, play, socialize, chat, exchange information, opinions and have fun.


Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards


Amy Creighton

_________________________________

Councillor Bowser, to his credit, went and looked at the dog run and: replaced the sharp stones with pea gravel, had the gates repaired with new posts, and suggested that the issue of the perimeter fence would be addressed.

Additional actions taken since then include the ongoing presence of my dad, Paul Creighton, at council meetings, where he enquires about the fence status.