Photography & Article by Kevin Kelly, Hometown News – avillanews@gmail.com – July 1, 2019
AVILLA — Restore Avilla finished the pocket park on Albion Street and have been looking at different projects to do next. At their June 10 meeting, they announced that their new official project is a dog park. The idea came from Cody Schneider, real estate agent for Hosler Realty and owner of Cody’s Pizza, who will be championing the project. They plan to locate it in the bare field adjacent to the Noble County Public Library – Avilla (NCPL-Avilla) which belongs to the Avilla Parks Department. They approached the Parks Board at their May 23 meeting about turning the vacant field into a dog park.
The Parks Board gave Restore Avilla approval to proceed at their June 6 meeting with two stipulations – one, that it be handicapped accessible, and two, that Restore Avilla provide funds to support it for the first two to three years. To be handicapped accessible there must be a paved path, with minimum width and maximum allowable slope adhered to, from parking to the fenced dog area. The fence gates must also meet handicapped accessibility requirements such as widths and latching.
The estimated cost to operate the dog park each year is $780. Approximately $500 of that is for liability insurance and the balance is for things such as disposing of the feces, mowing, and upkeep. Quotes will be obtained as the project progresses and approvals are obtained.
Restore Avilla has also contacted the NCPL Director to get their permission to use the NCPL –Avilla parking lot as parking for the dog park as well as permission to install the handicapped accessible path from their parking lot. They also plan to get input from the Avilla Police Department so that their security concerns can be addressed.
The estimated cost of installation at the cur-rent stage of design is $10,000. The location of the dog park is outside the MainStreet designated area so they do not plan to apply for any OCRA grants to fund the project. Re-store Avilla President Todd Carteaux stated that this is a good project for the group even though it is outside the MainStreet program since he sees it as a way to improve business and the town in general. He said it would be “a feather in the cap for the town.” This would also enable the fundraising to be done under a
501 (c ) 3 non-profit organization. Schneider, a local business owner, said the park would help attract people to relocate to Avilla. They plan to do fundraising in mid-July with a goal of $15,000 and hope to break ground in August, with the project finished in time to open before winter arrives.
Auburn is the closest town which has a dog park.