Howard & Erna Soldan Dog Park
Now Open!
The Friends of Greater Lansing Dog Parks (FGLDP) is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization made up of dog lovers just like you. Our goal is to create public, off-leash parks for the greater Lansing area.
June 14th Membership Meeting Summary
The second Friends of Greater Lansing Dog Parks general membership meeting was held on June 14 at Perspective 2 in Old Town with 18 people attending. The topics on the agenda were: Next Steps [for Soldan Dog Park], Problems at the Park and Potential Solutions, Entry System Implementation and Ambassador Activities.
The first part of our meeting was spent defining the relationship between City and County and their responsibilities for Soldan Dog Park and defining the FGLDP’s relationship to/responsibilities for Soldan Dog Park. We also discussed the status of changes to the park as a result of mediation with Ruth St neighbors and the public meeting that followed, possible plans to design and construct a bridge to recreate the loop at the park, the damage to the park as a result of the storm, and the city’s possible inclusion of a dog park in the plans for repurposing the Waverly Golf Course property.
The second portion of our meeting was spent asking members to define what they saw as current problems at Soldan Dog Park (such as users being unaware of the rules) and brainstorming potential solutions to the problems.
During the third portion of our meeting we discussed the status of the development/implementation of an entry system for Soldan Dog Park.
The fourth and final part of our meeting was dedicated to our call for FGLDP Ambassadors/volunteers. We discussed the history of the FGLDP Ambassador program and defined FGLDP Ambassador responsibilities. The FGLDP board members also revealed their plans to develop five FGLDP committees, each to be chaired by a board member. Attendees were invited to volunteer for these committees and sign-up sheets were passed around.
Fundraising – Michele Dykins, Treasurer
Building Partnerships – Becky Stimson, President
Communications – Sara Speigel, Secretary,
Membership Education – Angela Farrand, Co Vice-President
Entry System – Robin Sackevich, Co Vice-President
For more information or to sign up to be a FGLDP Ambassador or sit on
any of these committees, please email us at: info@lansingdogparks.com.
Board Statement Concerning May 12th Public Meeting
It was great to see so many concerned park users at the post-mediation meeting on May 12. We hope that everyone at the meeting will help the Friends of Greater Lansing Dog Parks, the county and the city move forward in developing Soldan Dog Park and helping with the development of future dog parks in the Lansing area. This is an exciting time for both human and canine.
About 40 people participated in the open meeting to discuss the modifications to the park. The Dispute Resolution Center of Central Michigan began the meeting with brief historical perspectives from Murdock Jemerson, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Lansing; Willis Bennett, Interim Director of Ingham County Parks, and Ellen Sullivan, Past President of FGLDP. For the rest of the meeting, dog park users asked questions about the proposed changes, expressed their concerns about the modifications, and suggested ways to preserve the aspects of the park that make it so successful.
None of the users are happy with fencing off two acres at the southeast corner of the park -- including FGLDP board members. The board, many who attended the meeting, and others understand that in order to keep the park open, we had to make some compromises. The primary mission of FGLDP is to develop more parks, and that requires being good partners.
We have learned a difficult lesson about soliciting input from all parties affected by the location of a dog park. We have also felt the passionate dedication some members of the community have for Soldan Dog Park. We hope we can count on that commitment to help us develop more partnerships and establish more parks.
We would like to stress the importance of putting the negative views behind us and moving forward in a positive direction. We are very glad that people got to see and meet Murdock, Willis and Coe and see how willing they all are to listen to and work with us. We want to move in a positive direction and look forward to implementing the changes with SDP. We are also excited about looking for more areas to build new dog parks. We think it is important to our members and to park users to know and see that we are not just a "group"; we are individuals with different views, personalities and strengths. It is our hope that people left the meeting feeling that they have the facts, and that they do have a voice in restructuring this park.
Overall, we feel the meeting went well, the mediators were helpful in keeping tempers from flaring and allowing everyone to talk. Murdock and Willis were very open to suggestions and very helpful in dealing with questions. We want to keep a positive flow going with the FGLDP group and will work with all that we have to keep it that way.
Our next general membership meeting will take place in June or July. Look for the date in the next eNews and on the website, and join us to discuss FGLDP's next steps.
Rebecca Stimson, President, FGLDP
Angela Farrand, Co Vice President
Robin Sackevich, Co Vice President
Sara Speigel, Secretary
Michele Dykins, Treasurer
Dog Paddle Pictures
We had a very fun and successful Dog Paddle Event this past Friday, May 9th. If you want to see more of the pictures, you can find them under the events section and under Dog Paddle Archive. Remember to save the date for the next Dog Paddle on September 19th!!!
Parking Changes
Please be aware that from May 1st to September 30th you may not be able to park at the lot in Hawk Island Park on weekends and holidays from 11 AM until 6 PM. More about this soon.
Thanks to the generosity and neighborliness of Ingham Regional Medical Center, we have been able to arrange to use their Pennsylvania Campus parking lot - the one closest to Scott Woods -- on weekends.
Park employees will have maps to hand out at the entry gate to Hawk Island or you can download one from our website. Please place the handout on your dashboard to show you are parking in that lot while you are using the Soldan Dog Park.
E-mail us at:
info@lansingdogparks.com
BECOME A MEMBER and join our email news list!
or write to us at:
Friends of Greater Lansing Dog Parks
P.O. Box 27164
Lansing, MI 48909-7164
Last revised: July 6, 2008