On Thursday the Board of Selectmen meeting featured a first read of a proposed dog park on one end of the plateau in Glenville above the Bendheim Western Greenwich Civic Center.
The park would be made possible by a $30,000 pledge from Pet Pantry. Adam Jacobson, executive vice president of Pet Pantry, attended the meeting via Zoom.
The proposal is to name the dog park the Pet Pantry Community Dog Park to reflect the public-private partnership. The meeting materials referred to naming rights lasting 10 years.
During the meeting, First Selectman Fred Camillo said it was unfortunate that it had taken five years – from 2000 to 2005 – to get Greenwich’s first dog park approved and completed in central Greenwich. It is located adjacent to Grass Island and the water treatment plant.
“The thought was, when we got in office that we would like to get two more – one on the eastern side and one on the western side,” he explained.
Camillo said a potential spot on the eastern side of town was still being worked on, but the one in Glenville was “ready to go.”
“I reached out in the spirit of our public-private partnerships, and we have a gift acceptance and naming agreement with Pet Pantry for $30,000 for a park right above the Western Greenwich Civic Center. It’s already fenced in on three sides, and is kind of used already as a dog park,” Camillo said.
“So the neighbors are happy – the ones I’ve spoken with already. We want to fix it up and make it really nice.”
Since the item was a first read, and the Selectmen wouldn’t vote until a second read, residents have two weeks to submit feedback.
“For the next two weeks we will be listening to people, but it seems to be very popular and hopefully will stay that way. It’s already used as a dog park. We just want to make it official,” Camillo said.
Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan said she looked forward to hearing more about the proposal.
“When Adam and I walked the grounds, he came up with so many great ideas,” Camillo said, referring to Mr. Jacobson. “He was mentioning things I hadn’t even thought of that will not only be a benefit for the dogs and their owners, but for helping the town maintain them and doing this as a cost-neutral endeavor.”
Lauren Rabin asked for details.
Camillo said there would be a fourth fence added to close off the area.
He said today there area features a chain link fence on three sides that could be closed off with a wooden picket fence and a way to separate smaller dogs from larger dogs.
Also, he said the project would involve bringing in a water source.
“Right now there is a chain link fence. We don’t have to do anything with that, but we’d like to dress it up a little bit with landscaping. Adam came up with the idea of a fire hydrant, symbolic in the middle. We could name it after someone,” he joked.
Ms Stone McGuigan asked about parking.
“There is lots of parking there. Not just on the side of the road, but there is a parking lot at the Western Greenwich Civic Center,” Camillo explained. “People park there all the time and walk up there stairs. Also there’s lots of houses in the vicinity that walk over there all the time, which is great for them so they don’t have to drive over there.”
Ms Stone McGuigan said it might not be possible to take a vote at the next Board of Selectmen meeting unless residents have access the details of the proposal, including parking. And she said it was too let to get on the agenda for the RTM for their next meeting which is on June 12.
“Thank you for this opportunity. We are grateful to give back to the Greenwich Community. As a 78-year-old community based business we certainly want to continue to be good corporate citizens that make positive impact in the communities,” Mr. Jacobson said. “Partnering with the town of Greenwich to bring about a new dog park in Glenville serves to further our appreciation to the town and a thank you to all of our longstanding Greenwich customers.”
Feedback on the proposed dog park should be directed to the Board of Selectmen by email at [email protected].
