Bowling Green City Council has approved an ordinance paving the way for a new dog park in the city.
The ordinance allows Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter to enter into an agreement with BG Dog Parks Inc. to lease a portion of Ridge Park for use as a dog park.
“I think that the path that has been traveled to get to this point is another shining example of the community working together to better Bowling Green,” Councilman Bill Herald said at Monday’s meeting just prior to the vote on the ordinance.
The idea of a new dog park in the city has received serious discussion at public meetings since at least 2022. There is a dog park currently located in the city – the Wood County Dog Park, at 1912 E. Gypsy Lane Road – but concerns have been voiced that that facility isn’t easily accessible for some residents, and the desire was expressed for a park within a more walkable distance. City council previously designated $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds towards such the project.
Under the lease agreement, the dog park would be located in the northern portion of Ridge Park. Among the provisions in the agreement, BG Dog Parks Inc., will be solely responsible for infrastructure improvements to the premises for its intended use as a dog park, including but not limited to installation of utilities (water, sewer, electric and gas), fences, water fountains, walkways and trash receptacles. Further, the three-year lease would be at the price of $1 per year, payable in advance. The group must also provide the city with an escrow deposit of $3,000 to “ensure that the dog park facilities and grounds, including fencing and other site improvements, are installed and adequately maintained.” Additionally, the group would be responsible for the continued maintenance and repair of the dog park infrastructure and the grounds, including litter clean-up, lawn mowing, snow and ice removal, line-trimming and the removal of fecal matter from the dog park left by participating dogs.
“It involved a lot of people putting in a lot of hours,” Herald said of the process leading up to the lease agreement, “not just through the citizen volunteers but also the administration. And I think this is yet another example … of what’s great about the city, that we have groups that will work to improve the city, and I strongly endorse the path that has been traveled and the goals that are set forth.”
Councilman Jeff Dennis said that he echoed Herald’s words and thanked city Attorney Hunter Brown and Clerk of Council Jodi Sickler, saying the pair spent late evenings going over various portions of the lease agreement and ensuring it was in order.
The ordinance passed 5-0, with Herald and Dennis abstaining. Herald noted he abstained “because of the extent of my formal and informal involvement on both sides of this, and I don’t want to have even the semblance of impropriety. But don’t read that as anything other than trying to choose the right path.”
In other business, council:
• Paid tribute to the late Sandy Rowland, a former longtime at-large council member who recently died.
“As most of you know, our community lost a very bright light recently,” said Council President Mark Hollenbaugh at the outset of the meeting, “someone that many of us here on council worked with for a number of years and people that work with the city and, I’m sure, most of you in this room engaged with Sandy Rowland in a number of endeavors.”
After the pledge of allegiance, those attending the meeting remained standing to offer a moment of silent reflection in Rowland’s honor.
Later in the meeting, resident Lindsay Durham called Rowland “one of BG’s biggest cheerleaders. She brought out the best of Bowling Green and everyone living in it. … Bowling Green has suffered a great loss and we shall all do our part to continue her legacy.”
• Heard from resident Joe DeMare, who noted the proposal to build a solar field where the city’s aging windmills are slated to be removed. He pointed to a bill before the Ohio State Legislature, HB197, saying that the legislation would utilize money from the federal government so that it could be used to fund the development of community solar projects.
“It is a perfect opportunity for the city to develop that solar field as a community solar project,” he said, noting previously that “these are projects that anyone in the community can buy a share of the panels of the solar farm that is put up.”
• Heard from BG Save Our Neighborhoods Group President Rose Drain, who discussed the two iterations of the organization’s Rock the Block events, held April 6 and May 4. The events saw volunteers assisting homeowners with improvement and repair projects. Drain said that 16 households were helped, with 550 hours spent on the work. Resident Vassiliki Leontis spoke, noting that a crew of seven volunteers worked in her garden during one of the events.
“It would have taken me weeks to do,” she said. She praised BG SONG, saying “This organization seems to fulfill some very important needs in the community.”
• Heard from Mayor Mike Aspacher, who noted that the city has been recognized as a Tree City USA for 43 consecutive years, and has earned its 29th Tree City USA Growth Award.
