Dog park

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cost the city around $15,000. Dietrich said even if the area is zoned for residential development, it might be possible for the city to put up a fence and then take it down if the parcels were ever looked at for potential residential development.

Dietrich said having something closer to the residential part of town would be beneficial because it would allow people to take dogs someplace that they can walk to instead of having to travel a half mile or more to get to Shortner Park North. Currently, there is no fencing out at the dog park at Shortner Park North.

Abbotsford resident Mary Giffin said she has lived and owned dogs in the city for 44 years and said she would love to see a dog park put in the city.

Giffin said creating a dog park would help solve a safety issue with walking dogs on city streets.

“We don’t have a lot of sidewalks in Abbotsford and it isn’t really the safest place to walk dogs on the road, which is what we do now,” Giffin said.

Mayor Jim Weix asked if there was an insurance policy the city would have to carry in order to protect the city against incidents that would happen at the park. Resident Kris O’Leary said other communities have instituted dog parks and places like Medford would have good examples of ordinances and insurance policies that the city could copy.

Soyk said he had looked at the policy when the topic was brought up two years ago and he believed the current liability insurance policy the city carries would cover any issues at the dog park as well.

Soyk said either way, whether the council decided to approve the new park and fence or not, the park would have to wait until 2025 as there is not money in the budget this year.

Alderman Mason Rachu said the city should look into the financial commitment of fencing at the Schilling Addition location and any potential additional costs that might come along with it. The council can then make a decision based on knowing what the financial commitment will look like and add it to next year’s budget.

Other business

■■ Soyk notified the board that the city has closed on the 11.5-acre parcels of land in the Schilling Addition. The board will need to make a decision on what to do with the area at a future date. Soyk suggested turning the area into a residential area as an option but would defer to the council for their final opinion on what to do with the land.

■■ Weix gave an update to the council on the happenings at the June 20 Central Fire and EMS District board meeting. He said the signage proposal which was originally brought to the municipalities and towns within the fire district is now going to be the financial responsibility of the fire department. He said in a roundabout way, Abbotsford will still be paying for a good portion of the sign cost but said it will be included in the fire district’s budget for 2025 that will be sent to the participating municipalities and towns.

■■ The council awarded the bid for construction on the Elm Street reconstruction project to Haas Sons, Inc. in the amount of $336,268.40. Soyk said Public Works Director Craig Stuttgen could save the city about $21,000 by using city resources on the project. Rachu made the motion to approve the award of the bid to Haas Sons, Inc. and the council approved it, unanimously.

Soyk also said the city is short about $52,000 in its capital improvement fund for the construction and engineering that will go into the Elm Street project. He suggested the city take money from the TID #7 account which has $57,018 in it.