City of Clinton leaders are once again showing vision and a bend toward restoring pieces of the town’s rich history with an idea followed by a blessing for movement toward establishing a dog park at the run-down but still usable Fisher Drive Park.
This week, members of council gave their nod to the idea, proposed by Public Works director Jeff Vreugdenhil and strongly supported by Councilman Steve Stefanovich.
In a nutshell, the idea is this: renovate Fisher Drive, demolish the existing fencing and install new fencing, stone walls, trees, a sign and an entryway with a concrete landing and welcome pets and their owners to what we know will become a true community venue.
In his presentation to Council, Vreugdenhil explained that the park would be done incrementally but comprehensively, and would come with no cost to taxpayers. Instead cost would be paid for through private donations, the cherry atop this wonderful idea whose time has come.
Though we are small, Clinton is always head and shoulders above many other towns our size, offering things residents of other like municipalities aren’t fortunate enough to have, such as first-class medical facilities, open-space planning and now a possible dog park.
We tip our hat to Stefanovich and the city staff for developing an idea that not only breathes new life into a much loved park but offers pet lovers a place they can take their animals to exercise safely and socialize with other dogs.
As Vreugdenil pointed out, we, too, believe that the park will foster a sense of community, bringing people together to enjoy a cup of coffee or a bottle of water, mingle in the outdoors and enjoy time both with their dogs and their friends.
With the rules the city plans to put in place, we can see nothing but good coming from this park, and we, for one, are anxious to see the plan become a reality.