Steinbach city council is laying the groundwork to establish a dog park. The matter was on the agenda Tuesday night as council met in committee. Mayor Chris Goertzen says step one is to change the Zoning Bylaw.
Goertzen says this would ensure people living in the area of any proposed dog park would get to have a say at a public hearing.
The city's administration has come up with some potential locations for a dog park with a recommendation that it be in the northwest corner of L.A. Barkman Park, south of the Steinbach Soccer Park. But Goertzen says council won't get into that discussion until the Zoning Bylaw has been changed. The estimated cost of a dog park is $30,000 to $50,000.
Council also had a lengthy discussion about dog licence fees Tuesday night. Currently, a lifetime licence for a spayed or neutered dog is $10 and it's $25 for an unaltered dog. The administration recommended increasing the fees to $20 and $35 respectively and making them annual, reserving half of that money for a dog park. Based on the 480 people who currently have their dogs licensed, this would generate about $9,600 per year. City staff also noted an annual fee would enable them to keep the city's records up to date which makes it easier to find the owners of lost dogs. Furthermore, they say it helps make sure that dogs are current on their vaccinations, something that would be important for a dog park to prevent the spread of disease. But in the end, Goertzen says council opted to keep the fees unchanged.
"Council chose to stick with a lifetime fee for dog licenses for any dog in the City of Steinbach. There are many municipalities that do have annual fees but, at this time, we'll be sticking with the one-time fees."
Wed, Apr 24, 2:30 PM
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