ROCK SPRINGS – Two Rock Springs entities sat down this past Thursday to discuss possible future collaborations for the pet population of the community.

At the Rock Springs Parks and Recreation Board meeting, members of the Rock Springs Pet Committee spoke to the board about different ideas they had for future projects. Ideas discussed included a second dog park.

Pet Committee member Melinda Baas brought a few of these ideas to the board. She emphasized the ideas were just that, ideas at this point. Baas said they wanted to speak to the rec board to see if these would even be worth investigating further.

“We thought this would be a good place to start,” Baas explained.

Walking Paths and Cleanup Stations

The first idea discussed involved the walking paths in Rock Springs. Baas said the Companion Animal Committee discussed the idea of putting pet cleanup stations along the paths. The main area the group focused on was along Dewar Drive between Zoobecks and Plains Tire.

The pet committee is also looking at putting pickup stations in similar places along Elk Street as well as one downtown at the small railroad park. While Dewar Drive and Elk Street are Wyoming Department of Transportation right-of-ways, there is an agreement the city will maintain the paths.

Board Chairman Ron Cheese was in favor of the stations on the green belt.

“It only encourages positive pet ownership,” he said.

Baas was under the same belief. She said if they are going to promote proper pet ownership then they need to provide the tools for the public to take care and clean up after their pets.

Dogs in other Parks

Another idea proposed by the committee was a test program that would allow pets in other parks as long as they were on leashes. Currently, dogs are legally only allowed in the dog park.

Baas said they would like to pick one park and give it a try. She said dogs would need to stay on leashes and picking up after them would be a must. If residents want this bad enough, this is a way for them to show they can be responsible, Bass explained.

While this idea did not get a lot of discussion, a few ideas were tossed around. The main focus was on possibly doing this at the wetland area near Smiths. While the sign might say park, city officials will tell you it was never suppose to be a park.

Joe Lison of Parks and Recreation explained it is really a drainage system to help control flooding in that area. Lansang added it was also a way for the city to get rid of an eyesore as many residents may still remember the swamp.

Also, dyes are put in the water to treat it which are probably not the best for pets and humans.

Lansang said there is the upper part which they could fence off and use for a test run. Both groups said residents would have to keep dogs on the leash because if they were to get loose and jump in the water in would probably not be a good outcome.

Second Dog Park

While allowing dogs in other parks was brought up, the discussion of a second dog park took center stage.

The committee and the rec board both agree there have been issues with interaction between small dogs and big dogs at the same park. Lansang explained they have started on the small dog park – which is located right off the Bitter Creek Park Bark – but because of declining revenue in the city, it has not been completed.

The completion of the park has continued to be towards the top of recreation projects during budget requests but has been bumped for the past several years. Lansang said they have been doing what they can in-house but, again, this is dependant on money and time.

Rock Springs City Councilwoman and the Park and Recreation Liaison Rose Mosbey reminded both groups the state of Wyoming is looking at a $200 to $300 million decline in revenue for the upcoming fiscal year.

She said it is good to set long-term goals and talk about future ideas but, with the current financial situation, it is not a good time to ask for money for projects like this. Baas agreed and said she really just wanted to see what kind of reception these ideas would get and if it was something to start looking at now. 

With the financial talk, Lansang said putting a second dog park on land that the city already owns would be the best route. Several locations were brought up, but city land around the Rock Springs Family Recreation Center seemed to get the most focus.

Several years ago, Rock Springs hired a company to come in and set a master plan for Rock Springs as they move into the future. In this master plan, one recommendation made was putting more parks on the west side of the city because that is where most of the new development is taking place.

Currently, the piece of land that the rec center sits on is only about half developed. Lansang said they have given a few acres to a group who has been developing a bike park. He also said they dedicated some land near the rec center to those who would be interested in starting the development of a skate park.

The land was dedicated with the understanding those who wanted to develop a skate park would start developing it. Similar to the bike park, those who wanted it would have to start building it if the land was available. Lansang said it has been a couple of years since this was done and no work has been started.

Overall, land is available and putting it near the recreation center would meet another suggestion given by the master plan.

Other land ideas Lansang brought up included Yellowstone School, as both a possible location for a future dog park as well as the on-leash test, and an area located behind Plains Tire.

While Yellowstone School is under different ownership, the city has an agreement in place that they can use the field as a backup for little league sports teams as long as the city maintains it. Lansang said many people have been using that field to walk their dogs.

Along Rahonce, behind Plains Tire, the Rahonce family dedicated a small portion of land to the city, but it can only be used as a park. This too has been in the city’s possession and, although several ideas have been brought up over the years, no development on the land has taken place.

The final area brought up is a piece of land the city has already been discussing at Veterans Park.

There is a small portion of the land in front of the park that really cannot be used for anything. Lansang said the department has been discussing a possible “rest area” for dogs. Lansang said the strip of land would probably be too small for a dog park, explaining it is the size of a “large dog run.”

Closing

After the discussion, both groups agreed to sit down and work together on several of these possibilities. Lansang explained he would like all the players who would be involved to take part in the discussion. Most important, Rock Springs Park Supervisor Mark Lyon.

“All roads lead to him,” Lansang said.

Baas also pointed out there may be other avenues to finance different projects through grants and other places. By getting together, these options can also be looked at.

Cheese encouraged to committee to keep going.

“Stay excited about it and keep the conversation going,” Cheese urged.