The Derby Aldermen voted unanimously Thursday to “move forward” with plans for a dog park on Coon Hollow Road.
The city has a $10,000 grant for the project and Ansonia is kicking in $2,000 according to Alderman Carmen DiCenso.
The park will go next to the vacant Derby dog pound near the city’s Public Works complex.
Coon Hollow Road, behind Derby High School, connects Hawthorne Avenue to Chatfield Street.
It’s a good location because the pound building already has running water, DiCenso said.
The city had originally looked at the area of O’Sullivan’s Island next to the Derby Greenway as a location for a dog park.
However, an Aldermen subcommittee of which DiCenso is a member opted for Coon Hollow Road.
The Greenway location wasn’t ideal, some said, because of a Greenway dog ban Derby instituted earlier this year.
Others worried about dog feces flowing into the nearby Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers.
When construction on the dog park will begin remains unknown. Right now the land next to the vacant dog pound is being used to store equipment and material from the Hawthorne Avenue reconstruction project. Click the video above to hear a few comments from DiCenso.
There are also some large rocks and brush that have to be cleared.
“Once that’s done we have to start with the fence,” DiCenso said.
On June 25, Walsh Fence, LLC told Derby fencing for the park would cost $10,241.32. That would get Derby 550 linear feet of chain link fence.
DiCenso said Derby has been looking closely at other dog parks and will incorporate things such as having separate spots for large and small dogs, along with a doggie drinking fountain.
The extra few thousand dollars from Ansonia will most likely be used to purchase benches for the dog park. A gazebo is a possibility at some point too, DiCenso said.
Mayor Anthony Staffieri said he thought land near O’Sullivan’s Island was a better spot because it was larger. The Coon Hollow land is about an acre.
Regardless, Staffieri said he’s happy the project is moving forward.
