A wonderful and talented group of Carlyon Beach residents has been gathering together these past two months to research and plan a proposal to present to the Board of Trustees for an off-leash dog park.

Firstly, the team toured possible dog park sites as suggested by the Board, Debbie Hendrickson in the CBHA office, and CBHA members in general.  Basically, this boiled down to slide-lot land or land by CBHA’s water tower.  After the tour, due to many factors (not the least of which was the availability of fresh water), the team unanimously felt the water tower site was the best area to propose.

The park would be on spare CBHA land south of the water tower, a wooded area with enough usable land for about an acre-large park.   The planned area is as far from private residences as possible and would be accessed by a short path from the water tower and future shop, where parking would be available.   Funding to pay for the fence, other park features (such as benches) and continuing maintenance could possibly be from donations, grants, and/or users’ fees for a key (similar to renting a boat ramp key). 

The proposal planning team has been busy researching various aspects of creating a safe and useful off-leash dog park.  For example, rules would prevent children below a certain age (likely 12 years old) from entering the park; CBHA Bylaws feces pick-up rules and animal control complaint processes would apply; and aggressive dogs would be banned from the park.

Advantages of a dog park in CBHA (even for non-dog owners) include the promotion of responsible pet ownership; having an accessible and safe place to exercise companions; the park being a positive recreational and social outlet where people can meet other CBHA residents; a place to hold dog obedience classes for better-behaved dogs in our neighborhoods (in fact, one instructor has already said they would be interested in holding a class there); the keeping of many dogs (and dog feces) off of the streets; and the fact that a tired dog is a quiet dog!

By the deadline of this newspaper, hopefully members will know if the Board has accepted the proposal in the continued pursuit of improvements to Carlyon Beach.  Keep your eye on the Board’s minutes!

PHOTO:

Dog Park Proposal Team Volunteers Ted Cohen, Corine Knudsen, Roy Evans, Patty DeBusk, Lisa Krupp, Coral “Cory” Hilby, Julie Joerns, Traci Crowder, and Joni Randell, with Nike, Rose, Uma, Maggie, Dash, Jafaru, Sage, Joey, and Cindel.   Not Pictured:  Debbie Hendrickson, Benzer (d.), Izzi, Kaia, and Rita. 

Posted November 1, 2006

New Zen Meditation group forming in Carlyon Beach area. This group is not affiliated with any religious tradition and welcomes individuals of all traditions who are interested in working together to support an ongoing awareness of our life as it is in any moment, in any event, and in any place. The group is suitable for beginners and more experienced meditators. The format of the group will follow Joko Beck's Every Day Zen practice and consist of two periods of silent meditation separated by a period of walking meditation.  During the second sitting, there will be a reading or tape educating about various meditation practices.  The group will be facilitated by Jean Fredrickson who has studied with Ordinary Mind Zen teachers for over 10 years and is a masters' level counselor involved with hospice work. The group will be on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 PM beginning November 7th.  For more information, please call Jean at 866-0169.