Parks board OKs bids for construction work for dog park

Talk about it

Pepper’s Dog Park in Jamestown put a big paw forward at Monday’s monthly Parks and Recreation Commission meeting.

The commission approved two major bids for the installation of fencing and a water line, which were two of the biggest hurdles left in the project.

The winning bids were awarded to Newman Fence, Jamestown, in the amount of $27,484 for the installation and 5- and 4- foot fencing, as well as gates to the park and concrete slabs.

Scherbenske & Son Excavation Inc., also Jamestown, was awarded a bid in the amount of $7,700 for the water line.

“Those are going to be our biggest expenses — after that we’re ready to roll,” said Joyce Heinrich, commissioner.

Reuben and Clarice Liechty donated 17 acres of land along 13th Street Southwest, two of which will be used for the dog park. One stipulation of the donation was that the park had to be named after Pepper, the Liechty’s son’s family dog.

Both votes were unanimous with Commissioner Mark Ukestad absent.

The money for these bids will come out of the department’s facilities budget from last year, which had about $50,000 remaining.

Some minor projects like signage remain, but the dog park could open this year once the installations are complete.

The Jamestown Leadership Team also had two members, Janna Bergstedt and Kristi Anderson, present. The team has been working with Parks and Recreation on the dog park.

The pair presented a nearly finalized version of a brochure and dog park rules. Both will be available for the public at this weekend’s Sport and Recreation Show at the Civic Center.

“They’ve (Jamestown Leadership Team) done just an outstanding job with the brochure and working with people around town to get the word out,” Heinrich said.

Later in the meeting the commission also agreed to help with some of the costs for remodeling Diamond No. 8 in McElroy Park for fast-pitch softball.

“For Jamestown to have a field that would be considered a fast-pitch field — it could stand alone in the state of North Dakota,” said Kevin Gall, a representative from the Jamestown Frontier League, a fast-pitch league for girls.

Buffalo City Tourism Foundation agreed to donate $8,000 of the $30,000 needed to redo the field. Gall was at the Commission meeting Monday asking for Parks and Recreation to write the tourism foundation a letter saying it is behind the project, as well as $4,000 to go toward the rebuild.

There was some debate about field’s dimensions once it’s complete. Gall wants 200 feet down the foul lines and 225 feet to center. The fencing would have to be moved in 25 feet in the corners.

Parks and Recreation Director Doug Hogan said that’s not necessary for securing a fast-pitch tournament.

“I think that money could be better spent on something else, because I don’t see moving the fence is necessary,” Hogan said.

Gall said it would be a uniform standard that’s associated with all levels of the sport.

“I could debate with you guys a long time,” he said. “What we’re shooting for is a field that’s built and repaired in a way — it should be set in the right way.”

In the end the need for improvements won out, with the commission unanimously approving the motion.

“I’ll be the first to admit that we have facilities that could certainly use improvement, and this is one of them,” Hogan said. “Tournaments with a signature field are nice.”

In other news, the commission heard from Christine Burchill and Rayette Brown of the Buffalo City Striders.

The group wanted to showcase the city’s walking and hiking trails with a weekly community walk starting June 13 and going until Aug. 8.

The board had nothing to approve; it only learned about the plan.

“We’re willing to do the work,” Burchill said. “We don’t need a committee, we are the committee.”

The Buffalo City Striders in conjunction with Women’s Heart Health plan to have a community leader for each walk and encourage anyone interested to attend.

Walks will be approximately 30 minutes and each week will feature a different trail. The main goal is to raise awareness of the trails, Burchill said.

“We have got to get that awareness out, we have to educate people,” Heinrich said.

Sun reporter Ben Rodgers can be reached at 701-952-8455 or by email at brodgers@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, park, dogs