Andover Dog Park

July 20, 2011 Committee Meeting

gertiebeth — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:43:50 +0000

July 20th Committee Meeting

Dog Park Folks,

It was a busy start to 2011 in our family and that stalled things out for our dog park planning. We did manage a spring clean up in our park as part of the adopt-a-park program. About 25 people showed up and helped out with that. The Andover Football Association donated 500 bucks to our park. (THANK YOU!!!) However, we need much more and it’s time to get things rolling forward again.

Let’s have a meeting for those that can make it. If you cannot and have anything you’d like brought up, just send me a message. We’ll post meeting minutes after the meeting for those unable to attend.

What:

Who:

When:

Where:

Regards,
Rob Frisby

Spring 2011 Park Clean Up

gertiebeth — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:12:49 +0000

On April 17, 2011 a group of Dog Park volunteers got together and did a Andover Station North park clean up. It didn’t take us long (about 2 hours total with 25 people helping) and we had a lot of fun dreaming about the day we will all gather again with our dogs for a play date!

Thanks to all that helped!

Committee Meeting Minutes

gertiebeth — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:52:53 +0000

Andover Dog Park Committee Meeting

Meeting Date: October 26, 2010
Meeting Location: Andover City Hall
In Attendance:

Rob Frisby
Jen Frisby
Valerie Forsch
Roberta Ryan
Renee Beaman
Chris Skjolsvik
Sarah Skjolsvik
Kathy McElhose
Sandy Woods

Not in attendance, but expressed interest in future meeting:

Kayla Johnson
Shannen Schmieg
Kim Griffin
Karen Esch
Sandy and Dan Larson
Sharon Harris-Vannelli

Old Business

Location – Andover Station North
Approximate cost of fence alone ($6500)
City Council Resolution – Passed
Web site ideas to Jen – include Google map of Andover Station North on site http://andoverdogpark.org/andover-station-north/ – look up traffic for website http://andoverdogpark.org/wp-content…0/10/usage.png – go live with DONATION page http://andoverdogpark.org/donate/

New Business

Adopt a park. Fall Pick up
Secretary for meetings: Kathy McElhose
Sign for future home: Valerie Forsch (Would like up ASAP to help promote the park)
What do we need for the park? Fence, gates, garbage cans, poop pick-up stations, poop bags, rules board, bulletin board, benches, concrete, permanent sign, water fountain, picnic tables, trees.

Needed BEFORE the park can open:

Double Gates and Concrete/Asphalt Entrance
Fencing
Poop Bag Stations (3)
Picnic Table (1)
“Rules” sign (example)

Needed AFTER the park is open:

Benches
Trees/Landscaping
Picnic Tables
Water Fountain
Bulletin Board

Donations

Where to donate: Online via PayPal and via US mail to Andover City Hall http://andoverdogpark.org/donate/
Is the Andover Dog Park under the 501 C3 Umbrella? - YES, per Todd Haas Assistant Public Works Director for Andover
Places to go, businesses, etc. – discussion ongoing
Pamphlet: Donation pamphlet being created by Roberta Ryan (personal) and Sarah Skjolsvik (business) pending building specs for fencing and other bids/estimates.
Signs, advertising on outfield fence (placed after April 1, down by November 1, need to know how much they cost, where to get them, how much to charge, 10 % to the city)

Sub Committees:

Advertising Signs: Valerie Forsch
Pamphlet: Roberta Ryan (personal) and Sarah Skjolsvik (business) pending building specs for fencing.
Donors (target list of businesses and people to contact – Contact after pamphlet completed
Park Materials: Sandy Woods (concrete/asphalt) Chris Skjolsvik (furniture)
Other signs – pending
Rules sign - Valerie Forsch
Hansen and Bunker signs (Contacting the county and requesting the type of sign and location – pending).

Long Term Planning Ideas
Water fountain, furniture, grand opening celebration, long term partnerships with rescue organizations and businesses.

Date of next meeting: Thursday November 11, 2010

We Are Now Accepting Donations!

gertiebeth — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 22:58:49 +0000

Share
We are now accepting donations for Andover’s first off-leash dog park! The city of Andover has graciously given the Andover Dog Park project a piece of land to use for our dog park. However, the dog park will be primarily financed through donations. The Andover Dog Park committee is currently getting bids from companies for our fencing and other supplies, but we have a good idea of how much we will need to open our dog park.

Items needed before the Andover Dog Park can open:

Fencing

Double Gates and Concrete/Asphalt Entrance

Trash cans

Poop Bag Stations (3)

Picnic Table (1)

“Rules” Sign (example)

Items needed/wanted after the Andover Dog Park is open:

Benches

Trees/Landscaping

Picnic Tables

Water Fountain

Bulletin Board

Given the list above, we estimate that we will need at least $10,000 to open the dog park. If you would like to help with your tax-deducible donation, there are 2 ways to donate:

Donate Via US Mail

Send checks or money orders to:
City of Andover
ATTN Dog Park
1685 Crosstown Blvd. NW
Andover, MN 55304
Make checks payable to “The City of Andover” and write “Andover Dog Park” in the memo.

Donate Via PayPal online

Pay by credit card, debit card or your PayPal account by clicking the “donate” button below.

After you have donated, please email AndoverDogPark.org with any information you would like listed on our Supporter’s page. We welcome links, email addresses and names.

Dog Park Supporter’s Meeting

gertiebeth — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:24:56 +0000

We have a meeting Tuesday night, October 26, for folks who indicated on their petition signature that they were interested in being on a committee. If you are interested in meeting with us to discuss strategies on getting our Andover Station North dog park location up and running, drop us an email and we will add you to the list and give you more meeting details.

Andover Dog MYRTLE is a Delta Dog!

gertiebeth — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:11:17 +0000

If I could take a moment to brag about my own Andover dog, Myrtle. Myrtle is now a certified Therapy Assistance Animal with The Delta Society! She and I are “Team Myrtle” and we hope to start visiting schools and nursing homes as soon as all the paperwork is filed and approved.

If you are interested in the therapy dog program, head over to the MN Humane Society website for more information.

~Jen

We Have a Location!

gertiebeth — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:47:29 +0000

The joint meeting on September 28th with the Parks Commission and City Council went well. The City Council voted to accept the recommendation of the Parks Committee to create a dog park at Andover Station North (ASN) on the condition it is approved by the EDA (Economic Development Authority) and private donations are obtained for the fencing.

The EDA is a group of people that actually own the property that ASN is located on. Some of the City Council members are in that small group of people, so I don’t foresee any major issues there. I will keep you posted on the EDA meeting results.

We have progressed quickly and fairly easily to this point. I would like to see a basic park open next summer. However, obtaining private funding, donations, will be the toughest part of this whole effort. Without the help of you all, it could take years or not happen at all. This is where the work really starts. The involvement level from other people needs to increase,

We need to get as many members of this group together as possible to knock around some ideas for fund raising. There are some organizations that will need to be contacted prior to the end of the calender year if we wish to get anything from them in 2011. Therefore we need to move fairly quickly over the next couple months towards some of the potential donors. I can’t do all this myself, and I don’t expect you to do all the work either. However, a little bit of work from a lot of people will get things done.

If you are interested in helping with our efforts, please send an email to andoverdogpark@gmail.com and we will add you to our committee list.

Keep watching the website or our Facebook page for updates!

~Rob Frisby

City Council Meeting Sept. 28

gertiebeth — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 18:28:52 +0000

The next big step in the Andover Dog Park process is Tuesday, September 28th, 7PM, at Andover City Hall. At that time the Parks Commission will be making their location recommendation to the City Council members. A simple way to help would be to show up and just give us some presence. You and any friends that wish to attend can just sit in the chambers room. Letting the City know that the effort is growing and involves more than just Jen and I would help send an important message. If you’d like to get there at 6:30 pm, we’ll have a little time to get to meet everyone prior to the meeting starting.

Here is a link to the meeting agenda.

The development of a core group of people that are interested and willing to become involved in this process is going to be crucial to the long term success of our effort. Even little things on your part can play a big role. Little things like sitting in a meeting for a little while can help, hopefully we’ll see you and yours on the 28th!

Sept. 16 Meeting Update

gertiebeth — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 18:15:18 +0000

Hello fellow dog park people!!

Rob here with an update.

I wanted to give you a brief run down on how the meeting went on September 16, 2010 at city hall. The 7pm meeting was with the Parks Commission and was a big important meeting for us all. This was the meeting where the Parks Commission came up with a recommendation for the city on a dog park… I’ll try to drag the answer out just a little further.

Ok, I won’t. The Parks Commission is recommending the Andover Station North (ASN – photos below and click here for a Andover Parks map for location #65) site as the one that should become a dog park. This is the spot between the ball fields and the old dump site. Yeah!!! That was Jen’s first pick, my second, and a high placed contender for many of the other folks out there. I was impressed to see that the commissioners seemed very informed, many had walked the sites, either in the past or recently, and looked at all four sites with objective realism.

The four areas looked at and discussed last night and in previous meetings were:

The previous meetings with the parks commission are on line and include the presentation we made at the last meeting regarding what we saw as advantages and disadvantages of these spots. To keep things fairly brief I will outline some of the concerns regarding each location that were brought up again last night.

Fox Meadows This location was the only one of four recommended by Park Maintenance. Some disadvantages to this spot were;

Community Center North No new concerns brought up. The previous concerns of the amount of wood, brush that would need to be removed was mention and all felt that about killed the location.

Eveland Fields Parking issues during school days and games were brought up again as an issue. Water drainage issues near the fence in some areas that create some fairly constant wet areas. Water does not seem to run off from the fields and area as well as it does at ASN.

Andover Station North Given the disadvantages noted at the other locations the Parks Commission felt that ASN was best spot for a new dog park. The Parks Maintenance did not recommend this location.

The Parks Commission voted and decided on ASN as the spot they would recommend to City Council for the dog park location. This is a HUGE step in the process and probably was the most important meeting to date.

Keep tuned to the website for current and past information.

We still have a lot of work to do. I would like to get as many people together as possible prior to the next meeting with City Council on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 7PM. Click here to see a PDF file of the agenda for that meeting. I would like us to brain storm on some ideas and figure out what we can do in the future as a group and as individuals as things progress.

Today we did a short television spot with QCTV. Hans is the Producer for Andover Cable Television for QCTV. He is going to make some short clips and air them daily for 30+ days to help promote this idea. Unsure when it will start to air, but you can look for that coming up soon as well.

Star Tribune Article

gertiebeth — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:14:07 +0000

Our efforts to get a dog park started in Andover is featured in an article written on the Star Tribune website. Click here to read it. Thanks to Hannah!

Star Tribune Website

Tired of taking her four dogs to roam free at the Alpine Dog Park in Ramsey, Jen Frisby had been thinking it was time Andover had its own dog park.

Frisby, 41, had a “light bulb” moment driving home from a Mother’s Day celebration in Rochester.

With four dogs panting in the back seat next to their 11-year-old daughter, Jen and her husband Rob, 43, decided they would approach the city about opening a dog park.

“We just sat back and waited and kept seeing them pop up in other communities,” she said. “Then we finally decided to see what we could do.”

Though the Frisbys have a fenced-in backyard, the couple like the social aspects of a dog park.

“Dogs are such a big part of our life, and we like to socialize with other people and trade tips,” Jen said. “Plus, the more socialized your dog is, the better pet it’s going to be.”

As Jen Frisby got the ball rolling, she discovered that she wasn’t the only one itching for a place that dogs could call their own.

“We’ve had calls from residents wondering why we don’t have a dog park, but no one ever put an effort to move it forward,” said Andover Assistant Public Works Director Todd Haas. “She and her husband are really dedicated to get this done.”

To make a dog park more feasible and appealing to the city, the Frisbys proposed one that would be funded by dog owners.

“We just want to know if there is space to use in the city. It really isn’t the right time to ask the city for money with the economy, even if there is an upswing,” Jen Frisby said. “People are still hurting.”

After meeting with the Park and Recreation Commission at the end of May, the Frisbys started a website, www.andoverdogpark.org, to gather community support.

The family set up a booth at the Andover Family Fun Fest in July, where they compiled 400 names on written petitions, in addition to nearly 200 names on an online petition on their website, Jen Frisby said. “The more a community puts into it, the more they will get out of it,” she said. “If it’s a city or county dog park, the community doesn’t really take as much ownership.”

So far, the couple has the location narrowed to four spots: Andover Station North, Eveland Fields, the city center north park and Fox Meadows.

Jen and Rob have modeled a potential dog park in Andover after others in Blaine, Coon Rapids and Ramsey.

“We would be using an existing park, but it would be unutilized space within those parks,” Rob Frisby said. “So we’re not really cutting into anyone’s space.”

Minimizing the costs

If the city allows space to be used within an existing park, that could help minimize costs, he said. After crunching some numbers and comparing other cities’ dog parks, he estimates the community would need to raise between $5,000 and $10,000.

Though they haven’t started fundraising efforts yet, some of their ideas include paving a path in the park with bricks engraved with dogs’ names for $10 per brick. Others include asking a large corporation like Menards to donate fencing in exchange for placing the company’s advertisement on the perimeter fence. While the couple is holding brainstorming sessions, they will not begin fundraising until they know the exact location and cost, Jen Frisby said.

The Park and Recreation Commission and the City Council will convene later this month to assess locations and costs, said Haas.

“Once the park goes up, we want to keep it nice,” Jen Frisby said. “We want this to be a piece of the community — a piece of us.”