News Reel
June 2010: Jay Row, our Community Recreation Coordinator, has asked that anyone interested in being involved in future park developments within the off leash area come forward and form a committee of interested users. Everyone is welcome.
Some future needs that have been identified: more garbage cans, more benches, more bag dispensers, lighting, parking, water source, bathrooms. There is a process called "Change to Parkland" which would be used to request changes such as these, and Jay's role would be to assist.
Off leash users are invited to reply to this email if they are interested in participating in the committee. We will collect names and put people in touch with each other. If you are interested, please indicate whether you are also interested in helping co-chair such a committee.
A new Facebook Group has formed with the goal of having the City of Edmonton look at their Ribbon of Green Plan and assess the feasibility of joining JPRA to the rest of Mill Creek Ravine at Argyll Park.
The FB group is called "Reconnect Millcreek Ravine" and can be found HERE
June 2010: Several members of JPPP have paid the full cost out of pocket for the bulletin board that will be installed in the park in the coming weeks. Hopefully this will better allow users to communicate with each other. The City will remove commercial and offensive content, but otherwise users can post freely. The board will be installed next to the trees by the bridge.
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A letter appeared in the Millwoods Newsletter in May 2010 from MCARFA to residents of Millwoods regarding the off leash area and the spray park. Below is a response sent to Joan Kurillo, Shafeek Ali and Stu Orr by Veronica Vinge, one of our members, on May 21. To date, they have not responded with any indication they would be willing to meet. Dear MCARFA It was with disappointment and frustration that I read your recent open letter to all Mill Woods residents regarding the consultation process on the off-leash area in the district park known as the Jackie Parker Recreational Area, Page 33 Mill Woods Newsletter May 2010. I am writing to provide you with a perspective / point of view as a citizen of Edmonton (whom you ostensibly serve since you want to “make the park accessible to the city at large.” I have included the entire article, with some comments regarding my own perception of the situation. My comments are [highlighted]. [begin MCARFA letter] With the spring 2010 opening of the Spray Park and Adventure Playground in Jackie Parker Recreational Area, the compatibility of this facility with the adjacent off- leash dog park have come into question. To address this concern, the City of Edmonton has assembled a community advisory group and MCARFA has been invited to participate in a series of community meetings to hear citizens concerns and participate in the advisory process. After attending several meetings, MCARFA has informed the City that it will withdraw from this advisory committee. Those of us who attended the Community Advisory Group / Committee meetings can attest to the fact that MCARFA only attended the first meeting in January 2010 and advised at that time that it needed to get direction from its’ Board of Directors regarding further participation. At the next meeting, we were advised by Jay Row, CRC, that MCARFA decided against participating. The Mill Woods Cultural and Recreational Association (MCARFA) is a not- for-profit organization established to build and operate major recreational and cultural facilities within the Mill Woods area. Its membership consists of all Mill Woods communities and its initiatives are directed by a Board of Directors elected at an annual general meeting. Within the Jackie Parker Recreational Area, MCARFA in conjunction with other community minded organizations have constructed the All- Season Pavilion and the Spray Park and Adventure Playground scheduled for opening in the spring of 2010. MCARFA is to be commended for the resources it has organized for the development of the park, the commitment it has shown to developing a community based park, and the tremendous volunteer effort it has put forth in this regard. While MCARFA provides leadership in the construction of facilities, we do not operate them, with the exception of the golf course. We ensure that they are designed and accessible to the residents of south-east Edmonton and the city at large. The access road from 50 St. to the playground area has no sidewalk and is immediately adjacent to the dog off-leash area. To access the playground, children will either be riding their bikes or walking on the trails within the off- leash area. As well, it is to be reasonably expected that children will be in vehicles accompanied by their parents. Further, children could be walking/riding through the open space of the off-leash area, not just the trails. Mixed / multi-use areas always present safety challenges and the Jackie Parker Pooch Patrol has indicated from our first conversations with MCARFA in November and December of 2009 that we were interested and committed to working with you on solutions to these challenges. It is disappointing that you did not participate on the Community Advisory Committee/Group to bring these concerns forward; nor did you work with JPPP to move the dialogue forward. We believe, as we’ve said from the beginning, that peaceful multi-use can be achieved, but reasonably-minded people on all sides of the issue must work together to achieve this. Removing oneself from the process does nothing to contribute to workable solutions. Concerns have been expressed as to the safety of the intermingling of off–leash dogs and children moving through this area. The sanitary conditions of this area is also a concern. As a pre-emptive initiative about a year ago, MCARFA proposed that some action be taken regarding the off-leash area to insure children can comfortably and safely access the playground whether on a bicycle or on foot. The community consultations are the result. Again, the Community Advisory Committee/ Group grappled with all manner of issues, brought up by all stakeholders. We would have appreciated you expressing these concerns directly in the process, rather than in a letter to the community after the process had concluded for all intents and purposes. What does this expression of concern achieve at this point? Positions within the Mill Woods community vary from for the continued operation of the off-leash area in its present form, for the modification of the current arrangement, or the total re-location of the area are very strong and passionate. There are community league members supporting various sides of the issue. The same is true of the dog off leash users: there are those who advocate for the removal of the spray park altogether (at one extreme) to those who are glad to have such a nice off leash area in this corner of the City and are happy to make accommodation for other users. We will never have all of the users on the same page. The timing of the consultative meetings (Jan. 11 and March 8) is not compatible with MCARFA as its executive will have only two meetings during this period and our representative would not be able to effectively consult with the other executive members on the issues between advisory meetings. In addition, any position taken by MCARFA would be alienating a portion of the community we represent. As a result, we have expressed our concern of the compatibility of the two activities in their present form to the City of Edmonton. Yes the timing was difficult, but surely this is not sufficient reason to abdicate participation? The off leash community has also been splintered because people hold different positions, it is the folks who are reasonable, interested in true compromise and willing to put “themselves out there” who are going to make the difference. We had hoped MCARFA would join us in that endeavour. We leave the community advisory group consultations to those community members that wish to participate and the final decision regarding safe access and operation of the facility to those w ho will operate and ultimately assume liability for the recreational area. We trust, therefore, that MCARFA will not be working behind the scenes to “re-open the issues” and will move forward in a proactive manner. We will continue to seek worthwhile cultural or recreational projects within the community of Mill woods and proceed with their development. As daily users of the park in all seasons, we will become active “developers” of our recreation space in partnership with the City of Edmonton. We initially believed that MCARFA might want to work with us as well; however your non-participation in the consultation process, coupled with the poor (late) timing of your expressed concerns regarding the lease / liability issues of the golf course boundary and the dog off leash; and this letter to the Millwoods community, leaves us the impression that it would be difficult to work together as partners in development. As you may know from Jay Row, our CRC, we have raised the funds to construct a bulletin board for the off-leash area. We will now turn our attention to the amenities that park users identified as being important through the consultation process. Perhaps MCARFA might be interested in meeting with us, along with Jay, to rebuild relationships and explore how we might work together on park development on the off-leash side. Veronica Lynn Vinge |
June 2010: The final decision by the City of Edmonton is that the portion of the ravine south of the big bridge will be an off leash trail. The section north of the big bridge will be an ON leash trail, to allow neighbourhood access to the play areas without encountering unleashed dogs, and to make enforcement easier. Considering that the starting point of MCARFA was a small fenced in area in the centre of the field, this represents a major achievement for off leash users. Signs now indicate the new boundary, which excludes the ravine north of the big bridge for off leash use. The area north of the bridge is designated as on leash.
City planners recently told advisory committee members that after considering Area D (north of bridge) they decided against reopening the boundary issue. They felt that doing so would also not be in the best interests of off leash users because it has the potential to allow those campaigning against off-leash to gain a foothold and further reduce the boundary.
In the coming 1-2 years, the City will undertake a review of the off-leash program Edmonton-wide. They will seek input from the public during that process, as well as examining best practices and experiences of other municipalities. Please watch for this in the future, and if you have ideas, please share them with the City by calling 311 or emailing 311@edmonton.ca and directing your email to Parks Planning.
