Saw this online at Buckslocalnews.com
Why is it so hard to get things done in this town?
By Petra Chesner Schlatter; BucksLocalNews.com
Despite the fact that Morrisville Borough Council unanimously approved a dog park plan in April, one resident has stepped up to voice her opinion against a dog park in her neighborhood, another resident has continued his plea not to allow commercial signage in the park.
About 20 proponents, mostly members of Friends of the Morrisville Dog Park, had attended the April meeting in support of a dog park at Delmorr and Philadelphia avenues – not too far from the Delaware River.
The group has been raising funds for a fence to surround the two areas in the planned park. To date, a dog wash and dog training classes have been held. Other fundraisers are planned.
Nancy Sherlock, council president, has said the dog park “is another amenity for the town. This is a group of people who were willing to work for a goal, to come out and assist with the fencing.”
Opposing the controversial proposed Morrisville dog park, Marybeth Catinella of Morrisville Borough told council members August 17 that she lives at the corner of Riverview and Philadelphia avenues directly parallel with the dog park site.
None of the Friends of the Morrisville Dog Park spoke at the recent meeting.
“A dog park has several important characteristics, the first being location,” she read from a prepared statement. “It shouldn’t be uphill because rain water will carry little boats of you know what, filling the street with bacteria.
“It shouldn’t be in a noisy location because many dogs are not acclimated to sudden loud disturbances and it should have parking and sidewalks so the street won’t get crowded with cars and people walking to and from the park,” she read.
Catinella added, “Pick up bags have to be plentiful and garbage must be frequently emptied. Holes need filling and grass needs maintenance as well as debris removal at the fence line. This requires a budget and then it requires supervision.”
Rules and regulations
She said the park also needs rules and signs and enforcement. “Regulations must be prominently posted and often repeated,” she noted. Signs should state kinds of dogs and types of people allowed into and forbidden from the park.”
Catinella said the following should not be permitted in the dog park: “unneutered males, no overly aggressive or under socialized dogs, no fearful dogs – ready to bite from sheer panic.”
She said the owners should “clean up after their dogs. They [owners] can’t be too young or old because they have to control the dogs and all must be prepared with leashes to take control and lead their animals while anticipating problems even before they occur.
“Finally,” Catinella said, “a dog park is simply an area that is exempt from local leash law, nothing more. People who suffer injury to themselves or their dogs have the same rights inside the park that they do outside of it.
Signage on open space
Another Morrisville Borough resident, Bill Setzer said, “I believe that commercial signage on open space property at Philadelphia and Delmorr avenues is likely to become the object of graffiti and vandalism since the location is so remote. Commercial sponsors will likely expect high quality maintenance of their signs since they have made sizeable investments and since their signs reflect upon their corporate image.”
Setzer, chairman of the Environmental Advisory Council, read from a prepared statement. “The cost issues associated with graffiti and vandalism to these signs will become another unnecessary and burdensome issue for the Borough.”
The dog park site is borough-owned open space, which was purchased with county funds.
He asked, “Who would become responsible for filing insurance claims, as well as cleaning, repairing, and replacing any damaged commercial signage?”
Setzer said allowing offsite commercial signage on open space public land would be like “opening a Pandora’s box of problems.
“Perhaps most problematic of all is the issue regarding who shall be allowed to advertise there and who shall not? And who has responsibility for these decisions? Sounds to me like it will be another problem for the courts,” he continued.
Setzer said, “Nobody is against the dog park (in fact, most people like the idea), but many other avenues are open to generate revenues to buy the fence. If it takes longer, so be it. Even those other dog parks, which we look to as models, took several years in their planning and execution. Don’t people usually end up valuing most those things that they have worked longest and hardest to achieve?
“Allowing a highly controversial issue like commercial offsite advertising on open space land certainly advances the timetable for the dog park construction, but creates too many negative consequences to the future of our Borough,” he noted.
“I also believe that endorsing signage for even one year is a mistake,” he concluded. “It will be a foot-in-the-door situation that will serve as a precedent for continued display of commercial signage long beyond the original plan for one year.”
