Grapevine to gather input for dog parks at May 2 public meeting

The Parks & Recreation team will host a public meeting on May 2 to discuss the creation of the city’s first dog parks.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at The REC of Grapevine, 1175 Municipal Way.

At the April 5 City Council meeting, Parks & Recreation director Kevin Mitchell presented ideas for possible sites for two dog parks: Bear Creek Park at 3230 S. State Highway 360 and McPherson Slough Park at 2500 Catfish Lane.

Mitchell said the two parks that rose to the top when they were discussing the best possible sites were McPherson Slough because it has access to water that many dogs would enjoy and Bear Creek because of its abundance of good land.

The public meeting will provide residents the opportunity to hear information regarding the chosen sites that were deemed suitable in size and scope to host the construction of each dog park.

Public input will be gathered from citizens regarding structures, amenities and opportunities that would assist in making the parks safe, successful and enjoyable, city officials said.

Other area dog parks include Bark Park at 3200 Meadow Park Drive in Bedford; Boo Boo’s Buddies Dog Park at 3901 N White Chapel Blvd. in Southlake; Freedom Dog Park at 2675 Trophy Park Drive in Trophy Club; Villages of Bear Creek Park at 1951 Bear Creek Pkwy. in Euless; Irving Dog Park at 4140 Valley View Lane in Irving; and Tipps Canine Hollow Dog Park at 7804 Davis Blvd. in North Richland Hills.

Grapevine City Council approved a contract during the April 19 City Council meeting with Pacheco Koch, headquartered in Dallas, for civil engineering, land surveying and landscape architecture for the two dog parks. Cost was $131,900.

“Having a dog park in Grapevine was citizen driven but we knew the need and want was there,” Mitchell said.

“After a citizen survey was completed in 2015, Grapevine City Council found it best and necessary to move forward with the construction of two dog parks.”

The city allocates a portion of sales tax to quality of life projects in Grapevine.

In the past, capital (or non-recurring) quality of life expenditures have been used for Parks & Recreation projects such as Oak Grove Ballfield Complex, Casey’s Clubhouse and Dove Pool renovation.

As some of these needs have been met, the city wanted to conduct a citizen survey to ask their thoughts on appropriate use for the capital funds for these types of projects in the future: arts and culture; beautification projects; community outreach center; golf course improvements; information technology; library; park amenities; police and fire; and public works.

Last year, to gather input from residents on how best to use quality of life funds, an online survey of Grapevine residents was undertaken by National Service Research on behalf of the city. More than 1,700 people responded to the quality of life survey than was conducted in February and March.

The wish list included a dog park.

Highest ranked “very important” rankings were:

1.Park Amenities – Trails 68.9 percent

2.Police and Fire – Protective Equipment 58.9

3.Public Works – Street Improvements 58.1

4.Police and Fire – Technology 57.1

5.Public Works – Sidewalk Additions 55.3

6.Police and Fire – Animal Shelter 50.1

7.Arts and Culture – Christmas Decorations 48.9

8.Park Amenities – Dog Park 48.0

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Grapevine to gather input for dog parks at May 2 public meeting."