What Happened in North Andover?

Posted on June 15, 2009 · Filed under: Elsewhere 

While searching for information on a dog park in North Reading, I happened to stumble across this article from 2007 on a dog park effort in North Andover.  Some interesting points about the N. Andover effort:

  • They collected 100 signatures in favor of a dog park, then asked the Board of Selectmen for permission to work with the town planner to finalize a location and a proposal (we gathered more than 600 signatures in a much smaller town)
  • They wanted to use an acre of town land and raise $12,000 in private donations to fence the parcel (exactly the same as our proposal)
  • They proposed that both residents and non-residents would be allowed to use the dog park. The town could charge fees to the people who use it, and charge more to non-residents (same as our proposal)
  • They proposed that the Department of Public Works could mow the grass and take out the trash, and a volunteer dog park committee could handle any other maintenance (same as our proposal)
  • Their board of selectmen said their proposal sounded “awesome” and gave their approval

So now for the questions:

  • What is the difference between N. Andover’s board of selectmen and Maynard’s board in terms of receptiveness to a proposal such as this one?
  • Why hasn’t N. Andover’s dog park become a reality?  Searching Google for more information brings up nothing.  If anyone knows more, please let us know!

Comments

One Comment on What Happened in North Andover?

  1. Mary Schwalm on Wed, 12th Aug 2009 11:17 pm

    2. I have restarted an attempt to get a dog park established in North Andover.

    I presented a proposal to the town selectmen on August 3rd, and while they were enthusiastic about the idea of the park, they were somewhat discouraging in regards to the proposed location.

    A copy of the proposal is currently on my website http://www.maryschwalm.com/nadp.html while i get a dedicated North Andover Dog Park website up and running.

    I was interviewed by the local paper, the North Andover Citizen, and anticipate the article to be in print in the next few days.

    I’ll do my best to keep you up to date, and i plan to post similar updates on the website http://www.northandoverdogpark.org

    Please let me know if you can help in any way, this type of work is new for me, I’m just learning as i go.

    Thank you,
    Mary