HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-06-07 (Regular) Meeting Minutes•
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I. Call to Order
ENGLEWOO') ':ITY COUNCIL
ENGLEWOOD, ARA PA I i. COUNTY, COLORADO
Regul tr Session
June 7, 2004
The regular met'.J ng of the Englewood City Council was called lo orde r by Mayor Garrett at 7:39 p.m.
2. Invocation
1 nc invocation was given by Cou ncil Member Barrentine .
3. Pledge or Alleglance
Cub Scout Pack #172 from Charles Hay Elementary School presented the Colr.s and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
4. Roll Call
Present:
Absent:
A quorum was present.
Council Members Tomasso, Moore , Barrentine, Garren , Bradshaw,
Wolosyn, Yurchick
None
Also present: City Manager Sun
5. Minutes
City Attorney Brotzman
Assistant City Manager Flaherty
City Clerk Ellis
Senior Planner Graham, Community Development
Director Ross, Public Works
Director Gryglewicz, Finance and Administrative Services
Director Black, Parks and Recreati on
Manager Dannc mi llcr, Community Development
(a) COUNCIL MEMBER WOLOSYN MOVED, AND IT WAS SECONDED, TO APPROVE
T"P. MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY '.7, 2004.
Ma yor Ga--; .. n asked if there was any discussion , comments or correc tio ns . There were none.
Ayes :
Nays :
Abstain:
Motio n carried .
6. Scheduled Visitors
Co unci l Members Barrentine , Brad shaw. Gnnctt, Wol osy n, Yurchick, Tomas so
None
Council Member Moo re
(n) Cnro lyr. Armstrong, Awards Chairperson for the Colorado Parks and Recrca1i on Association, was
present to honor Cub Scout Pack # 172 with a Cu stomer Service Award fo r their work in the Englewood community.
She said I think most of you know that the Colorado Parks a1 j Recreation Association is an organization of Parks
and Recreati on Departments from all ~ ·rr the State . Part of the Colorado Parks and Recreation Association's
charge is to honor people who further t ·c:c of parks and rccrca:io n in the State . One or' the awards that we give
o ut is an award for Community Service. 1 ward is 10 rccogn:zc iuoups that have pcrfonncd outstandi,1g
Englewood Cily Co uncil
June 71 2004
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co mm unit y ser vice fo r an age ncy . Th is year, 1he Englewood Parks and Rccrca lmn staff nominat ed a very dese rvin g
yo un g gro up of gc nt i~mt:n for 1his award . The Award s Comm iucc reviewed th at app licati on and !hey were fo und,
not on ly to ha ve m~l all 1he crit eri a, but 10 ha ve exceeded mos1 of it. So, it is my pleasure toni gh1 to award the
Co lora do Park:; and Rec re ati on Assoc iati on Co mmunit y Award 10 Cub Sco ut Pack # 172 . There was a ppl au s!. She
sa id we have cenifi ca tc s of merit , and free admi ss ion to Pirates Cove, fo r each one of th ese yo ung men a nd th eir
leaders .
Eac h yo ung man ca me fo rward nnd Ms. Arm strong nnd Cu b Sco ut Leade r Tim Su lli van handed out the ccnificntcs .
Ms . Armstrong said, ag ain . yo un g me n. congratu latio ns. You have given a service to yo ur City and yo ur co mmunity
and we truly, truly ap preciate it. There was app lause.
Ms . Armstrong sai d the Englewood Parks and Recreati on ~taff wishes for yo u to have a co py of the fr amed
cenif:cate to be displayed whe re ver you have your meet ings . Thank you very much, she sa id . She pre sented the
framed c~rti'i~a te to Mr. Sulli va n. There was applause.
Mr . Sullivan said I would like to thank yo u and especially your staff, because witho ut the Englewood City Council
providing us !h e opponunities 10 serve the community. we wo uldn't have anybody to se rve . I would really like to
thank Gary Scars a nd his staff, Jerrell Black who has provided us numerous opportunities, Ch ri s Ol so n with all th e
Neighborhood Watch stu ff 1hat we pa rt icipate in , Ken Ross has provided places for them to store their pinewood
derby track a nd we arc ve ry grateful to Council and we look forward 10 helpin g out our co mmunity in the future . As
in th e pas t, we always say 1hank you by giving you a pa ck yell . They gave the pack ye ll. There was a pplause.
Council Member Bradshaw thanked Mr . Sulliv an.
Mayor Garrett said I ju.;! want to note that during the Scheduled and Unsch eduled Visitor part of the meeting ,
Council li sten s. we do not reall y get into a dial ogue.
(b) Tavis Hanna , 44 20 South Elati Street, sai d first , th ank yo u for lettin g me speak toni ght. I
appreciate the oppon unity to share my opini on and my sugges ti ons. I moved to Englewood a littl e over a year and a
half ago. On e of th e main drawing fact ors was ... just the neighborhood as a whole . the number of parks yo u ha ve in
th ose neigh borhoods and the specific facilitie s and se rvices you offer in those parks . The main issue I wanted to
addre ss tonight was the dog off-leas h privileges that we enjoy here in Englewood. When I moved here , 1 think it
mu s! ha\'c been almost a year ... 1hnt I wo uld go to th nt park . walk th ere with my dogs, take them off-leas h and th ey
wo ul d do a co uple of laps arc .. md the park. They would do th eir business, get th eir e nergy out and we ne ver played
with anoth er dog in that y.!a r. Ne ve r! Yo u would sec peo ple here and there . but they were n't there to gather and
pla y so much . Th e day Bates Logan Park closed fo r th e off-lea sh privile ge, the re wcfl.! thirty plus dogs there ... fo r
hours. And since th at happened las t fa ll, the num bers ha ve bee n droppin g stc:i dily . I belie ve pa rt of it is the fa<.· th at
Denve r has ope ned th eir fo ur or fi ve off-leash park s and there arc far fowe r people goi ng there now . On an ave r ,gc
week night . I see. at one lime, probabl y anywh ere fro m eig ht to twe lve dogs at a time. So me of them arc pla yi ng in
one area a nd a co upl e of 1hem arc usually fan her away pl aying fetch . so the use is so mew hat spread out. I just fee.
th at co nside rin g the fa ct that that usage is co nsis1entl y and steadily drop ping . !he co nccp l of cl os ing thi s park to off-
le as h 1ea ll y does n't ad dre ss th e ca use of this sy mptom. And th al is ... num be r of fac iliti es per cap ita. We have X
a.11o unt of dogs and mos tl y dog ow ners in Englewood. 7hcy ha \•e just as much right 10 e nj oy thei r rec rea tio nal
needs as anyone el se docs . If the y do it off•lcash, it helps th e dogs becau1;c th ey become more soc ia l, so you have
safer dogs in your ne ighborhood . They do ge l thei r energy o ut fa ster . I know pecp le who go 10 th e park and th row a
ball for thei r dog for two hours and the dogs still won't sto p. There are dog breed s that can run 35 miles per hour
plus. I ca n't jog li ke 1ha1. I reall y just don't see how it is a so li.:!;o n, a pro-active permane nt solutio n. tha t applies to
everyone unilaterally.just like th e impacts of lhe drough t and our econo my effect everyone unilBlcrall y and how
everyone's impact on !he park effect s the park unil a1cra ll y ... socce r, baseba ll , people wi th dogs, children at the park . •
To be able to look at a situ ati on like 1hi s nnd think, well we ha ve these new stre sses co min g on our communit y. the
soluti on is simple ... lct's lake the new guy on the 101cm po le :md bump him off. We arc not goi ng to go awa y. We
arc not movi ng out of Engle wood . We are still goi ng to go to the park . We arc still goi ng to wa lk our dogs . It wi ll
be on lea sh, but the impact won't chan ge. The other aspec t and face t to th e impact is ... pcr cap ita again . You
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Englew oo d Clly Co uncil
June 7, 200-a
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dec rea sed the num be r of off-leash fa cil iti es we 've had and it's concc ntrn tcd 1ha1 impac t in one spo 1. I re all y,
hones tly , be li eve th at a large complex like what I hnvc hea rd in 1he works ... onc main place whe re all dog owners
can go. is a great idea. I am not go in g to say no, we shoul dn 't do it. Howev er. I don't thin k it re pl aces what we
ha ve by bei ng able 10 have cell s wi th in in o ur neig hbo rhood . within walk ing di stance of o ur homes. Wh en I co me
home on a wee k nig ht . I spend eleven hours in sc hoo l. I don't always have time to dr ive acro ss the neighbo rh ood 10
go so mew here . I o nl y li ve fi ve bl ocks from th e Jaso n Park . And, I don't sec how fi xin g the po pul ation of use in one
speci fi c area aga in is go in g to solve th e probl em. It may be a bi!:!ge r fac ilit y, but we are still goin g lo have a mud pit
once all 1hc Englewood dogs go !h ere. So di vers ifyin g yo ur recrea li onal need s, is 1he onl y way 1h31 you ca n 1ruly
lim it the amo unt of impact yo u ha ve per loca tio n. On e of !h e suggesti ons I have had for that , fo r qu i:c ~me time, is
havin g pa rks off-l eas h after dark so it doe sn't interfere with oth er peopl e, other palron!-, especi ally childre11, ~-~=.'.!sc
!h ere has bee n a lot of co ncern s abo ut safet y with that. Th e other is portable fen ces . Thi s is a fence th at ca n be set
up . It is permanently standing , in the sense that yo u don't have to take it down and erect it. but it is on ski ds. When
th e park is mowed, th ey tow it to a new spot and just pull it out a linl e bi t so it is standing . It is the si ze of a regul ar
dog run enclos ure a nd they mow that area . The ne xt wee k they move it agai n, th e ne xt week th ey move it agai n.
You have had offers on the table si nce las t fall , from people who arc wi llin g to put together the mo ney to build these
and donate them . It doe.,;;n't ha ve to come o ut of the City 's pocket. I haven't seen any dec ision on that iss ue and it
has been a half a year since th ose kind s of s ugges tions we re posted . I sup pose th e other issues to address , that are
more specifi c, arc the fact th at one of the main things I noticed when all those peo ple s1aned comin g to Jaso n Park
was that th e drug deal s, that wo uld go on morning , noon and night , stopped . They arc go ne . I have n't seen them
since . Do gs may see m like a ri sk to kids, bu t in thi s case, I think they ar; providin g a safet y net fo r them.
Addi tio nnll y, ever . 1i ght I go there, at le ns t one or two parent s, bri ng their toddlers, probabl y two 10 three yea rs old,
fr om the play gro u11J over to sec the dogs. Thi s is not just soc iali zati on fo r neighbors with neigh bor.. or dogs wi th
dJ gs, it is people looking at this ar a resource to help their childrcr ncc limatc to a di verse soc iety. These arc dogs,
so n. Thi s is how yo u treat them . Thi s is how yo u interact with them . Th is is how you can be safe, but still be
progressive , Yo u have to learn to be able to be a se lf s uffi cie nt perso n once yo u grow up . It seems like we serve
just ns mu ch of a purpose to the other people who are there , D't an inconvenience. Additi onally the drought ... l'm a
soccer coach for Denver Soccer Club and we pl ay on B field that is fen ced at night. Dogs arc 11bso lu1cly not nll owcd
up there . Tho se fields arc probably three time s worse than ours , ha nd s down . I mcan , lhcy don't even ha ve the use
lhat we have here . I would have to say that I th ink Denver is 111etcring thei r water more than we arc , but I still don't
think th at just th e impact of the dogs alone is pu shin g th is is.:ue over its breakin g point. Aga in, the dro us ht affects
us all unilal , •ra ll y. To look at thi s as an iss ue of who is th e new guy. who ca n we bu mp off of thi s, docsn'1 make
se nse. To loo k it as an iss ue of what we havc ... socce r pl aye rs. base ball pl aye rs, dogs. children ... how many parks
do we have? Th ere arc so man y parks in E nglewood , I can't even count them . Plenty of th em ha•,c space fo r a
hundred by hundred dog encl os ure that is pon able. Hav ing th e stuff go on aft er dark. helps reduce 1he ris k 10 oth er
peopl e as well . I think the other iss ues , fo r me, that see ms kind of str an ge, is th e fac t th at here we arc talking abo ut
not havin g enough money to do thi s. We ha ve had offers. You know 1hcrc was a woman I met last fall . at one of
th ese mee tin gs . Sh e was in opposi ti on to kee ping th e Ba tes !..o gan Park off.leash. Howeve r. she saw it as a specific
iss ue and she addressed all th e issues specifi ca ll y, no t as a "let's trea t 1hc symptoms and swee p them under the
carpet." She and her husband, who is a co ntra ctor. offered 10 do nate time and la bor if a vo lun1 ec 1 orga ni za tio n was
will ing to put up the money to build th ese fen ces. I haven't see n anythin g come of th a1. It is a great offer. It is a
perm anen t solution. Weighin g lh rt kind of situati on with, he-re we have a dro ught. .. herc we have money . We have
had so luti ons arid offers on the tabl e fo r half a yea r and we jl<sl opened a mult imilli on doll ar wa ter park ? It starts 10
look ki nd of di s1.:rim inatory. Li ke we can foc us on th is po rt io n of the po pulati on, beca use th ey arc children. beca use
1hcy arc adu\1 s, a nd be ca use th ey arc pe ople . Th is isn't ,1bo u1 dog tra ffi c. T hi s is abo ut En glewood resi de nt use.
My fee t put j ust as much i:n J 1ac 1 on tha t grou nd as my dogs . And th e fact th at I pa y j ust as many laxes as an yone
else. 1ell s me thal I have a ri,lht to be abl e to e nj oy lh e rec ri:ati on.il need s 1ha11 have in my communi1 y. I nm not
askin g fo r anyth ing ex tra vaga nt. like a han g gli der po rt. I am j ust asking fo r a few encl os ures spa ced ar"und th e
Ci ty ID th at we don·t have peopl e comm g fr om fi ve mil es away . wi th in Englewood, to one pruk. 11 jm ~cem s 10 me
th al it is such co mmon -~nse to put togethe r a so luti on. a proac tive so luti on that co nt inues th e pro g; .~· .. i .,: co ncep ts
th at were put in place when Englewood wa s one or the fi rst cities in th e De nve r metro area to start its ..:i ff -lea sh
program. II see ms iro ni c 1ha1 now that the symptoms of our ove r popu lati on prob!cm wi th Bat~~ ioga n, whi ch have
shifted 10 Jaso n from the Den ver iss ue. wher the y didn 't have their own off-lea sh parks ... it jusl seems very iro nic
th at now 1hat they arc ge ll ing their progra ms up and goin g and we arc seei ng th e usage here and th e in pac1 here
drop , that now we are loo ki ng at th is as an ult imatum t ype ll cal agai n. So, it is eilh er we kee p it in the off-leush
progra m or we lake ii off. Yo u've had so many sugge stions and proposals put 10 yo u and none of them have been
accep ted . It does n't make se nse thal yo u woul d take a sit uation. bas icall y, tin ker with a working sys tem 1hat yo u
Engl ewood City Co uncil
June 7, 2004
Page 4
a ready ha \'c in place :md pu1 i i to a pri nci ple ofto.ke II or leave it . close ii or keep il upe n. So mebody wi thin thi s
p,:'lcl probably bro u£hl up 1h is idea a few years ago . The re s1 of lh c people on thi s pa nel probably 1ho ugh1 . lct's
g1 re ii a try. And now that we arc in it, we arc going. the thing is worki ng a nd we arc havi ng 10 make adj us1mcnts
he re a nd there. It jus1 se ems co un1crprodu c1ive th at every tim e we hit a hiccup along th e way. we loo k at it as ... do
we shut it down or keep it going ? Do we throw o ut th e lhi ngs we have acco mpl ished or do we li sten to wha t the
peop le ha ve to say about sa fet y. noise po lluti on, wa ter po llut io n. Ta ke those thin gs int o co nsideratio n and make
some tweak s to what we have done and move forwa rd . I'm tclliu g yoL', we are not going to go away . \Ve live in
Engl ewood . I am not selli ng my hou sl!. I am not gelli ng rid of my dogs an.: I am :itill go in g to use th e park . The
traffi c won '1 stop, money is ti ght for everybody, drought is hill ing "''crybody . and everybody here ha s th eir right 10
their opini on. Everybody here has eve n their ow n soluti ons a nd suggest io ns 1ha1 they would li ke 10 sec
implemented . If we mee t in 1wo weeks , arc we going 10 ha\'C a progressive soluti on to 1hi s or 1s i i goi ng 10 an
ultimatum , yes or no? All of us on bo th side s of thi s iss ue have been waiting fo r a so luti on. And to loo k at thi s ,._
an issue of, th ere arc all these people surroundin g thi s iss ue a nd let's pi ck which group we want to stand by. ym, 1:,H"
still o ur represe nt ed clcc1ives ... if yo u decide aga inst us. I urge yo u 10 make a decis ion 1ha1 benefit s all of
us ... unilaterall y. It just make s more se nse in the long run . How many times arc yo u going to have meetin gs
addre ss ing this same iss ue over 1he nex1 ye ar ? Are we just go ing 10 keep coming here and wasting the City's money
talking about thi s thing and never coming up wit h a so luti on thnt st ick s and benefi ts everybody? We el ec ted you.
We want you to do the job that we hired yo u to do. The pra yer 1hat was read , at the beginni ng of thi s sessio n. had
the word nmow in it. Th is is not a pinpoint iss ue . This is not an iss ue I.hat will be so lved long term by having a
narrow scope. We are aski ng you 10 look at every si ngle perso n he re an1.. think , how can yo u acrompli sh the
financial challen ges we face, th e drought challenge s we fo ce, 1he safety challenges we face and the use challenges
that all of us have a right to and make it sli ck or, are yo u going to be back here again ? Because I tell yo u, if you
cl oSI! this park dow n, or if :u least yo u don't start opening other ones as well , yo u arc going to have another petiti on
next month and another one ne xt month . and ano ther one again and ii is going to be put on 1hc age nda . It is just not
going to go away. Thank yo u. There was applause.
(c) Jeanne Fyfe , 3986 South Bann ock Street, sa id thank you too for letting me come to speak . I came
here to night , as did many of yo u in the audience, because I hoped I might be ab le to say something that wou ld make
a difference. And . I wonder, what it is that can make a difference? There is always more than one side to II story .
especially if it is controversial. bt.: ! believe that eve ryo ne in 1hi s roo m agree s on one thing . We are all gratefu l to
have parks to go 10 and l am thankful 10 the Cit y fo r th..t, regardl ess of what the decis ion will be, I :i.ppreci atc it. I
want to slate up fro nt 1ha1 I am for off-leash park s, but I am also fo r kid s be ing ab le to play without stepping in dog
dro ppings and I nm for fa mi lie s to be ab le to have pi cnk:. wit ho ut dogs runnin g ove r 10 them and bothering them . I
um for all the good things that are assoc iated 0 ritr parks . I have lived in Englewood fo r about two years now and I
ha ve enjoyed seve ral of lhc parks . I ha v"': seen an increase in dog traffi c at Ja son wit h the cl osi ng of Bate s Loga n
and I have picked up dog doo that my dog didn't do. We all ha ve , I ha ve taken plasti c bags to the park . I have
asked peopl e, politely , 10 move fr om the kid s playing area and fi eld s. My dog hasn't always bee n the best dog and I
ha ve had 10 apologize to pe ople so metimes fo r my dog running up to th em. I think we are all working on being
bette r steward s of ou r dogs and our chil dren and whate ve r it is we take to the pa rk. T!-. r .re pro blem s J nd no one
den::s thi s, but takin g aw 3y so methin g. as th e oth er ge ntl eman slat ed, isn't a solutio n. it just see ms li ke: a tcmpornry
fix . I don'1 want to be redundant. but th at is the wa; i i see ms 10 me . And I respec lflJlly as k 1he Council , where do
yo u think we arc all go ing to go with our dogs if yo u 1ukc away the off-lea sh pri vileges ? As th e oth er ge ntl eman
slated . we arc no! goi ng 10 go away . I like living in En giewood a nd I like cakin g my dog 10 th e park . I don't like 10
put :i.ny1hing in nega ti ve terms. but I nm just thin kin g, where do you th ink we are goi ng 10 go wi th our dogs? I hope
you have a lot of animal co nt rol. because yo u arc probaMy goi ng 10 ge t more call s. And I don't mean that in a
ncga t;ve way at all, but I ju st wonde r where we arc sup posed to go . I wi ll s1ill go 10 the pa rk wit h my dog on le as h,
bu t J'vi: got an Austra lia n she phe rd-Border co l Ii ~. If anybod y ha s a ranch I ca n bo rrow, he rea ll y needs a job. I take
him to my Dad's fa rm in Nebras ka so metim es, bul th at is J VJ hour s awa y. So tha t is so mc1hing l have been
thinkin g abo ut. I hea rd the oth er ge ntl eman SilY, and I've he ard it before . yo u rep 1csc nt us and I know you guys
ha\'e heard ii ove r and ove r and over nnd yo u arc goi ng 10 hear it again, beca use yo u do represent us. all of us,
people with dogs, peopl e without dogs. people wi th kid s or any combin atio n. And. one thing thal I reall y want to
say is th at my dog is my famil y and he deserves to run and play in a park.just as much ns any hu man chil d does.
Now I kn ow, on th at poi nt . a lot of us here will di sagree . bu t 1ha1 is how I feel. I wo ul d j ust lik e to briefl y tell yo u of
u rece nt expe rien ce in anot her Co lorado tow n that mad e me wan t 10 return to th nl tow n. I was wi th a fri e nd and our
two dogs and we we re travei in g th ro ugh Es tes Park . We slopped on the outskins. because we saw a fe nced area . It
looked l•kc a place for dogs and it turned out th at ii was. The fen ced urea was ac tu all y di vided into two nn d there
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Englewood City Council
June 7, 2004
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wa s ano1 her guy there a nd I asked hi m why th e small fenced park wn s divi ded in1 0 two. I-l e said well , some1imc s
there ge ts to be 100 many dogs so we kind of all jusl dh1idc th em up and so me of us go on one si de and some go on
1he oth er. He sa id you kn ow so me dogs just get along wi th eac h ot her bcu cr lhan 01hcrs and all in all ii is a wa y 10
ma nage the situ ation . He li ved th ere nnd he liked it. Th e tras h cans had cove rin gs on th em, they we ren't ope n ones
:ind they co nt ained the smel l and thi s place reall y loo ked 10 me like a dog pa rk. And, I thin k that may be an
important distinc tio n. I know so me folks aren't kee n on fen ces. but th e th ought that comes to my min d is a1 least
when you see dogs in a fen ced area. you know nOI 10 go ove r there if yo u do n't care fo r dogs and I known lot of
peo pl e don'I. And 1he dogs won 't co me running up 10 yo u becau se 1hey ca n'I . Th ese arcjusl a few of my
observat ions. Th ey arc in no way say ing wh at I thin k we should do wit h lhc parks here, because I know the money
sil u:ttio n and that son of thing . It is just an obse rvatio n and yC\u know I want to go back to Estes Par k beca use I felt
really we lco me wi th my dog there . I th ink th at is something that cit ies wa nt to do, is create welcome pla ces fo r
eve ryo ne . Right now, honestl y, I am not feel ing so welcome wi th my dogs here in Englewood. I am no t here to
boohoo abo ut it but yo u know. I was thinking the other day ... beca use I have a lot of friend s !hat are about w.y age
nnd so me of them ha ve dogs a nd some of them don't ... if th ey were to say to me. we ll, how do yo u like Engl ewood
so far , do yo u like living there ? I lo•,c ;~ving here , but th is is one of th ose th ings that has kind of cast a damper over
it and I wou ld pro ba bly say to them rit "'t now. if yo u have dogs I don't kn..:>w if I wo ~ld move here . I realize how it
mu st so und to people who don't cart i J 1 dogs or who don't ha ve dogs ... like why is it such a big deal to yo u? Jusl
like man y of yo u have children .. .I dr 11 't ha ve a human child and I spend 11 lot of time with my dog, so it is just
some thing that is reall y important t.,., .!M :. You know, I reall y don't expect eve ryone to like dogs and that is okay, but
here is one thing I do hope and I do c..<pcct ... City Council yo u must dll the right thing . I ca n't tell yo u if keeping the
off-l eas h parks open in 1he current co nditi on is the right thing nnJ I ~.,ow that is not a pop ular thin g to say , if you 11rc
a me mber of the off-l eas h gro up, but I can advi se yo u that clo sing the par ks to off-leash privileg~ without or befo re
yo u have a definite plan or some kind of plan fo r moving for ward wi th a more desirable off-leas h park or parks area.
is no t the right thing to do. We will all be wai rin g and wa tching ... eX!)t.:e ling yo u to do the ri ght thing where we as
respo nsible dog owners are concerned. fi r.all y I ha ve just a couple cf stats from my own street , the 3900 bl ock of
Bannock . There are 24 homes ... 12 on cad. sid e ... and of these no fewer th an 16 have dogs. I also know that at least
4 of1h ose home s have more lhan I dog. Mulliply 1ha1 by all lhe bloc~• in Englewood, hypo1he1i cally , and you have
the po tential ... sho uld yo u take off-leas h privileges away ... for di sc riminating aga in st a who le lot of people a nd th eir
be loved pets. But I wo uld ra ther think al ong positive lines . I know we can find co mmon ground . I know we ca n all
ge t along . Our dogs don't have 11 vo ice , but we do. Pl ease help us find a sol ut io n that we c:i n all happil y live with .
Thank yo u. There was app lause.
(d) Jane Co lema n, 390 1 So uth Ga lapa go, sai d I am here toni ght 10 speak wi th yo u regardi ng 1he off-
leas h pri vil eges in the Eng lewood Park sy~tem . There are seve ral it erns that I would li ke 10 po int out to you.
Havin g lived in Englewood fo r fony-so me yea rs and al so bei ng a bu sin ess ow ner and a man age r for many of those
yea rs, I hlvc seen many changes ove r the years here in Englewood . Numbe r one ... the parks in Englewood. Until
th e past three yea rs, dogs were all owed to wa lk off-leash 1hroug hou1 the City. The Cit y. ar abo ut that lime.
des ignated that nil dogs mu st be on leas h if anywhere but on th eir o \·:n property ; or the de signated off-lea sh :,a rk s in
Englewood . Jaso n Park was among 4 parks, plu s a gree nbelt. that were des ignated off-leas h parks fo r dogs. The
rest is hi story and yo u arc we ll aware of the cl os in g of Ba tes Logan. Howeve r, p ev io us to th e de sig nated are as fo r
off-lea sh, th e Ca nadia n geese we re ab le to ru n rampa nt whe re ve r they wan ted; a nd th ey pa n ic ul arly loved Jason
Park . You co uld go 10 Jason any tim e of th e day or night and yo u wou ld fi nd hu ge fl ocks of geese. Th ey loved to
feed on 1he grasse s. And, wi 1h huge ~ocks of gees e, co mes ::,1ge pi les of goo ,c poo p. II was eve ryw here. It was
im possib le 10 walk an yw here in 1he pt!rk due 10 the green, slirr.y dropping ~ of 1he gee se. The geese parti cul arly
loved lhe open , grassy area of thr. soccer fie lds. Wh o ga l th e blame for th 1:-. ·! There wa s no one 10 bl ume. But with
th e onset of th e off-lea sh dogs , hC' gee se dec id ed th ey would fl y 10 ano th er place and rel inquish th e grassy park 10
the dugs . Proof of the gee se ano ·hey lcav,: behind ... j l1.!o l loo k at Cc nte nni al Pa rk. anolhcr one of Englewood's
curre nt off-le as h parks th at 1s ha 1 Jed. Al Jason, th e conditio n of 1hc socce r are:-s and the bascl II area~ are
gre 11. I kn ow . I gCl th ere dail y. Th e gr ass is green and there ure no bare spols . The off-lea sh dog owners have been
ve ry di li geni abo ut slaying away fr om the area s 1ha1 see m to ca use co ncern 10 !he Ci ty; and th ey have done n good
job. The dog ow ners have cleaned up the parks, held clea n up parii cs. cduca 1cd the mem bers of 1he off-lea sh group s
of the necessit y a nd priority of pi cki ng up behi nd their dogs and ,my oth er irrespo nsi ble ow ner that used the r,ark . I
wo ul d ve ntu re 10 say 1h a1 lhe par l. is cl ea ner now 1hnn ever . The off-lea sh group s eve n clean up eve ry Monday
morni ng be hi nd the weekend pi cnic kers a nd park party group s. Nun ,i>er two ... use of 1he park . With ~nve r
ope ning up fiv e offi cial off-leas h parks. th e usage at Ja so n Park has bee n c u1 dras tica ll y. Many of the so uth Denv er
peo pl e used 10 cone 10 Englewood and use our park S)'Slcm. Now they have !~cir ow n, and th e park usage is way
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Englewood Cit y Co uncil
June 71 2004
Page 6
down. his rare that you ha ve the large numbers of dogs :md owner s that were once using th e park . Nu mber
1hrcc ... po licing of 1hc park . The off-lea sh group s have taken a stri ct eye to 1hc dru g b11 si nc ss 1ha1 was prevalent in
the Englewood Park sys tem . Wi1h so man y eyes a,·ai lab lc 10 report suspicio us drug ac ti vit y; and with the use of ce ll
ph ones. whe rever the drug dealers have go ne, the y arc not at Jaso n Park . We used to see peo ple using the park for
sleeping at night. This has all but bee n wi ped o ut. Numbe r four ... not in my backyard . Thi s is a particular
complaint oi people livin g adjo ining the park. However. the park is fenced . And . with that fence, th at makes the
pa rk just . s much in my ba ckyard as anyone adjoi ning the park . Neighbors li vi ng aro und Jason ha ve no more
proprietary vo ices du e 10 th eir pr::>x imity to th e park, th an say, I do a nd I li ve 5 bl oc ks away. People as a ge neral
rule . are adverse to chan ge. With the lldve nt oi lega l off-lea sh in the fo ur parks. plus the greenbelt, it was natural for
some peop le to sny. "no, I wan1 1h ings like they used to be ." But we mu st move wilh th e times, and the times have
changed . Number five., .use of the park. Children arc no longer ab le to safe ly pl ay in parks un supervh:cd. With
mothers and fa th ers havi ng to work t.o supply th e necessiti es for lhe children, a televi sion has becorre their
bab ys itter and children are In front of the televi sion playing Nintend o and other telev isio n games. We cannot
designate areas based on wha t we \l scd to do. The numbers of children have dropped dram atically over th e past ten
years , with proo f of this in that two years ago Englewood Sc hools lai d off 26 teachers in our sc hool sys tem . More
la y-offs are in the work s, with a continual drop in attend an ce, and thusly a drop in Federa l funding. There is no need
to ha ve 1eachers if the children aren't there , and there is no need to reserve p trks for children who are not there .
Number six ... compromise. The off-leash groups have said, repeatedly, that th ey were willing to compromise. Put a
compromise on the table ; and let's come to so me so rt ofan agree ment. Get a mediator if necessary. The Off-Leash
Task Force was a start and we need to continue with our efforts 10 use the park s sys tems to its ma ximum . Please
don 't shut the door on us. Let 's co ntinue to loo k for ways that the off-le as h groups can continue with their use of
the park privileges. Thank yo u for hearing my thinking . If you will allow us to continue to work together, I'm sure
we can come up with something that will suit lhe maj or i1 y o~ 1he pe ople. Thank you very much . There was
applause.
Ms. Coleman said I ha ve anoth('r lette r that I was asked to read from someone that couldn't come 1onight. If it suits
you, I wou ld like 10 read it Thi s is from l)iane L. Theobal d, 3860 South Sherma n. ''To Wh 'lm h Ma y Concern : I
have lived in Englewood now ior 7 l/2 years. During th e last severa l years, I ha ve been blessed by being able to go
to a park with my dog off-le ash. I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to do that and get a great deal of enjoyment
out of see ing other dogs 111 the park. as well . In my opi nion, the off-leash parks arc as much for th e people as they
are for the dogs. Thus I find ii prett y di sturbing 10 lea rn that eve n tho ugh dog owners are in the maj ori ty in
Englewood. the off-leas h privil ege may disappear beca use of a few who do not want parks utilized in such a way .
Some of the people who are fighting this do not even use th e park s. they simply do not want dogs to be loose.
Others ha ve mad e up th ei r mind s to be against dog parks because th ey do not like dogs. II bothers me 10 1hink I may
be represen ted on the Cit y Co un cil by a person who would no! co nsid er my de si res, becau se the y a.re not the same as
hers. I recog ni ze that there are ri sks with off-leas h dogs.just as there are ri sks wi 1h eve rything in Ide. 1 sincere ly
hope thBt the City ca n find so me way to accommodate dog ow ners who enj oy using the parks with their dogs.j ust as
it accommodates people who pla y softball . socce r, bas ketb all and so fo rth . I am s ure 1here is a way that we can all
share. Th ank yo u fo r li sten in g." There was app lause .
(e) Laurie Roul ston, 38°d .-;o uth Sher man, said I gre w up goi ng to th e Engl ewood parks . I am not th e
new guy on th e bl oc k. I am rea ll y the old girl arou nd Ja so n Park . I wa nt 10 give you a little bit of prospective . I
grew up here when you we nt to !he Gothi c and you watched the matin ee theate rs before there was G. R and X
ratings. So that is how long I have been here. If yo u were to as k my mother, she wo uld tell you lhat my two
favo ril e pl aces fo r me to go would be the Englewood Library and the park s. The reason that I tell yo u thi s is th at
thin gs haven't change d much. Th ose are s1ill my two favorite places 10 go. And, I hap pe n lO have two fo ur-le gged
friend s 1hnl share my visio n of fa vor i,,. places. Th e ,~ ... rdcr co lli e is s1ill wo rkin g on hi s readi ng, but I expect he will
ge t he re in a few more day s. Tnc r,,, Jh that I am te llin g yo u thi s is I am also a teac her and on my way to wo rk I
dri ve by Ba tes Logan P:irk every day . And . f drive by durin g the even ing lime , at variou s hours. Si nce this has
become an is sue, I ha ve just been sloppi ng by and checki ng. Every day at differenl lime s of the evening and tonig ht ,
I just want yo u to kn ow thi s was the fir st person that I saw in the park in th e last 20 day s. There was actually one
person at Bates Logan p13ying basketball . Th al is th e fir st lime in twenty days. I feel like I pay laxes so that I can
use the park . These people here use the park . Sure , we don't g(I 10 the park in bu s lllads of 100 10 150 kjd s at one
time with summ er fun day camps, but we do come there with our fri e nd s, ou r dogs and we do socia li ze them. We
mec, our friends at the park. it is wo nd erf ul not tu be isC1 lated in yo ur home . This is what I -:onsi der co mm unit y. I
wa n, th e children I teach to UC ab le 10 go to th e park . I want them to be ab le to use the pa rk . I wa nt all of us 10 be
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Englewood
June 7, 2m
Pngc 7
ab le to use lhc park ... thi s is for o ur co mmuni1 y. Thi s is a prefe rence of li fe . Late ly we ha ve had so me budget
crunches. What should I tell the chi ldrcn ... oh I'm ~o rr y,just fo r the li brar y. those of yo u who use 1he library, we
have a bud get crunch and therefo re. we have decided not to let yo u chec k o ut an y books, that way we ca n prese rve
the books. Thin k abou t ii. When yo u make that decision ... represent th e peo ple, repre sent 1hc future. a nd think
progressive ly. What we ha ve is wonderfu l. It is working . You peo ple created so met hin g that is wo rkin g. The
parks ha ve a boundary. Peop le's backyards are not a n cx1cn sion of a bou ndary of th e park. The park is for the
people of Englewood . Pl ease don'1 mke away my park . Th ere was app lause.
(f) Paul Gaggini, 2200 South Lincoln Street , said I came here today 10 help yo u solve a prob lem.
reall y don't think there i1-a prob lem with dog s at Jason Park . There is a problem wi1h how some people see thi s.
There is a problem in that some people think it is so mehow a bad thing th at has to be forbidden . I was ama zed ... I
came here with all kinds of argume nts about how other things weren't harmed and I was amazed in this Study
Session to hear that there was so me concern about the turf. because I am an expert on the turf at Ja"ion Park. I know
every square inch of that turf as do severa l dozen people here. If you need to kn ow anyt hin g abo ut it, here arc you r
ex perts. There arc areas of the park that arc not bei ng we ll watered. You know how a lawn looks when part of it is
wate red and pan of it isn't. It is obvious lh at in certain places 1he sprinklers aren't reaching . You have someone
already hired on the staff of Parks and Recreation that knows how 10 tune these sprinklers and the rela tively minor
poor condition that I sec in certai n places is due to that. I wou ld like to point out that use by dog owners and their
dogs is a very random sort of use oi the lawn. It is not someth ing like vo ll eyba ll or soccer or baseball where there is
co nstant wear over a certain area . There is a heavy amount of wear as people walk around the perimeter of the park .
I want you people to go to that park and look. Don't re ly on ph otographs. Do n't rely on seco nd hand ... take some
time o ut of your day here and there to go and obser ve the owne rs with their dogs. the dogs and how they play and
look at the lawn yo urself. Walk around over there. It is quite a nice place . I am here to o nl y talk about one thing
about the Englewood parks and that is Jaso n Park. That is the one we refer 10 as "the dog park." You have cre ated a
wonderful thi ng. It is great. Some peop le like me who do n't li ve in Englewood come there . People come there for
other uses also , that don't li ve in Englewood. There arc people who come there from all 0 \.'Cr the metro area to play
soccer, to play ba seba ll and that is wonderful. And until you put up a fence around Englewood and a big sign that
says No Trespassing that is go ing to happen and you have to take account for that. There was a lot of usage early in
the winter before the Denver parks opened and I saw th e condition of that turf late in the winte r and I was sure it was
gone. I wa s amazed 10 sec that ii sprang back beautifu ll y. Go there and look at ii yourself. That is all ( can see . I
think there mig ht be a prejudice on the part of the Parks Departm e nt that th eir emp loyees don't like emptyi ng those
barrels full of dog poop. So th ey are kind of prejudice agai nst it. I noti ced today ... J was th ere nt ap~roximatcly 3
o'clock ... thcre we re three people in the park, all people playing with thei r dogs. I not iced th at the socce r field had
been aerated, but the other pan hadn't. I don't know why . Maybe th ey have decided that the socce1 field is a high
use area and needs more aeration than the other part and that is tl,e on ly part th ey ae rat ed. I do n't know . But I think
you wou ldn'I have spent a cent more on water and I do n't think i i is going 10 be a grca1 expense on water, I think it
involves mos tl y just tu ning up the sprinklers. giv ing th em a re aso nable amount of wat er like we do in Den ve r and
Englewood under droug ht conditions. Our la wns have n't died. I think that park is very ideal because it is fenced .
Three fo u,1hs of it is already fenced . And if yo u did think th at fence s were necessary on the ot her part. one part
which is a street, which I don't think need s ii. but I am sure il could be done with min ima l expen se. I wo uld lik e 10
sa y that in the who le tim e I've be en there, I have neve r see n a soccer ga me interru pted by a dog . I ha ve seen that the
pa rk is clean. It is clean er 1han any park that I have every see n. I was amazed when I started invad in g ~·our lawn to
use your dog park s that I met a bunch of lady cops in th ese parks. These womcn ... if yo u don'1 no ti ce 1hat your dog
just i.quee zed one out. .. 1hcy arc go in g to holl er at yo u. And that is what happe ns. It is a self po licing gro up . It is
wonderful. I too k a sur vey ... I will give yo u a co py of it. .. l walked and talked 10 ,ne 24 home s who have fences
OO rde ring the park . Nine people weren 't home . Three pe ople didn 't lik e it. Eleven peo ple did like it. Of th e peop le
who did n't like it. one lady complain s 1h:11 the park ca used mice in her home . Th e mice may have co me after the
dog s came to the park, but I don't think 1he dogs caused 1he mi ce. Ano th er pe rso n co mplained of odor. This is
so mething the Ci1 y co uld do ri ght now. Go move that barrel away from th e fence that is ri ght by her backyard .
Move it 50 feet in1 0 lh e park . Another pe rso n has a runnin g dispute wi th a man who co mes 10 the park and allows
hi s dog 10 poop in her fr ont yard. He cleans it up, but s1ill 1hey have a figh t going and he lik es to tc.:asc her and they
have a runni ng arg ument. She circula!cd a petiti on wit h 18 signa ture s on it of neighbor s of the plrk that don 't like
the off-leas h pr iv ilege that yo u ha ve given us. Of 1he people 1h:i1 immed iately border the park. who ha w a
lcg itimale claim to have been damaged in so me wuy ... financially ur by hav ing their freedom interr upted or th ei r
peace of mind ... o nly three were fou nd 10 ac tuall y not lik e th e park . Evid ent ly her nu mbers were from the peop le in
outl ying area s. not pe ople right cl ose 10 the park . I don't lik e th e idea of portable fen ce s. You find an area that is
Englewood City Council
June 7, 2004
Page 8
stressed you mi ght fe nce it off. T his is 1he mistake 1ha1 Denver is mak in g right now. They ha v: hu ge !lrcas of 1hei r
par ks, bu 1 th!.'y see m 10 wa nt 10 fen ce off a two or three acre area fo r lh e dogs. h really docs n ·1 work. I have neve r
seen a child hurl. I ha ve ne ve r see n a child 's play in1 err up1ed . E"id cntl y so me of yo u peop le ha ve n't been th ere. I
ha ve bee n there hundred s of hours. I go to Chatfi e ld two or three times a week. I have at hl eti c dogs . I exe rcise
ti.em by playing fe tc h. You ca n·1 ex ercise a bca u1iful ath leti c dog by keeping it on a leash. And, you can't do it in a
two or three ac re place ei 1her. Jaso n is such an ideal dog park. And, I h:1ve never se en a socce r gam e int erfered
with . Th e issue of clea nl iness ... everybody li kes 10 see th e little dogs sca mpering aro und. hut th e prob lem is the y
use th e pa rk a.<i a toil et Well tha t is not a valid poi nt , beca use in th is case th ere wo uld be ~00 geese using the park
as a toi let and nobody is goi ng 10 clean up after them . Most of 1he peop le I know pick tip dog wasle, whether it is
fr om 1heir dog or no t Wr patro l th e park and that is what we do. We wa lk around with our dogs and we look for
was 1e and we cl ea n it up. h happeu, t.nd ii is 1
1cr'ec1l y clean. No si tuat io n is perfect II is up to yo u 10 see what is
1he best good for the most people . J C.:u n'I think 1t is an eco logica l iss ue . I think yo u can find lhe wa ter to eas il y take
care of th at par k. And, you have to consider the intense di sma y that wi!I be fe ll by us. h makes our day . Im agine
th at yo u have so me ac ti vit y in yo ur life that fill s yo u wi th joy every time you do it. A pl ace where you go that eve ry
time yo u go th ere yo u know it is go in g 10 make yo u fee l helte r and all of a sudden 1hat is taken away. Im agine 1hat
yo u are a music ian and every 1ime yo u si t down to pl ay the piano you feel happy. you feel joy and all of a sudd en
yo u arc paral yzed and you ca n'I play . Im ag ine that you lik e to go and hear a certain prea cher pre:ich eve ry Sunday
and all of a sudden he die s and yo u fee l an emptiness inside. We are going 10 feel int ens e di smay . Ima gine yo u are
a City co uncilman and you enjoy ··o ur important job and you enj oy laki ng care of the affair s of the Cit y and all of a
sudden yo u get voted out of offi ce. How wou ld yo u feel? Th at is how we arc going to feel. And thi s intense
dis may must be balanced against 1he occas ional irrita1ion expressed by the neighbors of the park . There was
ap plause.
(g) Jill Wil so n, 306 1 South Grant , said I am reading a letter fo r Susan Pacek as she co uld not be here.
"Dear Ma yo r and Town Council Me mbers: As the Comprehen sive Plann in g Manager fo r the Town of Parker, I
understa nd , thal to every controversial issue such as off-leas h dog areas , there arc a multitude of iss ues 1ha1 need
be co nsi dered in order fo r elected official s 10 ma ke an informed and proac tive dec ision that affects the co nstituents
of their communit y. This ti me , l find myse lf pe rson ally invo lved in an iss ue within my ow n co mmunity . As a
resi dent of Engl ewood, I would like 10 express my support fo r prov iding off-leash dog areas within ou r parks. The
publi c ope n space mana ge ment env ironm ent has changed dramati ca ll y in the lus l 20 yea rs. The ra nge of acti vities in
whi ch peop le are en gaged has expanded , while bud gets and resources have co n,rac led . There is now mu ch mo re
emphasis on efficien cy and improved manage ment Ma ny Co un cil's, such as yo urse lves. arc grap pling with making
a. judgment on how 10 acco mm oda te th e growing recreat iona l uses of our parks . I wo uld li ke 10 s1ress the
importance of stri vin ~ to be equit ab le and responsive 10 the voice of all of your co nstituents . According to the Parks
and Recreation Department of the City and Count y of Denve r. 35'.l-of Co lora do home ow ners ow n at leas t one dog .
Usi ng 2000 popu lati on stati stics, 1h a1 tran slate s to 5 ,165 househo lds in Englewood who have dogs. One of th e goals
of the recentl y adopted Comprehensive Plan . oth erwise know n as Road map Eng lewood. states th at lhc Town wi ll
"prov id e sufficient park s and recrea tion facilities to ser ve the need s of En git. vood citizens by encourag in g a variety
of park classi fi ca ti ons ." II is difficult 10 ac hi eve such a goa l wh en a !:ubs lan tin l user base ma y noi be acco mm od:ll ed
if all park s arc cl osed to off.leas h areas . Off-leas h dog p:trk s offer a mult i1u de of oppor1uni1ic s for dogs and th eir
ow ners al ike. Such co mmuni1 y benefi ts includ e: soci ali zes and exe rcises dogs in a safe environmem: A we ll
socia lized and exe rcised dog is less like ly to deve lop bc h:i."ior problem s suc h as agg ress ion or barking . Provides an
op portun it y fo r peop le 10 int erac t an d ge t to know oth er co mmunit y members, whil e participating in an ac ti vit y that
they enJDY wit h 1hcir pc1 s. Provide s eld erl y and di sa bled owners with an acces~1b le and safe pl ace 10 exe rcise 1hcir
dogs . Provides , safe environ ment fo r outd oo r dog obcd ienc(" cl asses. Removes unwant ed cleme n1 s, such as crim e
and loite ring. from else where in the par k throu gh dog owne r ;,upc rvi sion. I am :1l so aware th al there arc co mmunity
drawbacks, howeve r. there are res tricti ons 1hat ca n be de\'dopcd to mitigate th ese valid co ncerns ... lim iti ng hours,
distributi on uf dog ac1 ivi tie s so no one park is ove rburdened. com mun ity based orga ni za ti ons 10 deve lop cl ea n up
doys , etc. Nume ro11s comm uniti es adj ace nt to Englewood and th roug hout lhe c,1mtr y arc Inking ac ti ve slcp s 1oward
accommodating fo r off-leas h dog recrea ti on. In February of thi s /Car, Denver 01-·ned fi ve off-le as h dog area s
within exi stin g p:1 rks . A,ccordin g to Den ver's Parks Pl annin g proj~ct m:mager fo r th e Dog Off-Lea sh Pil ot Program,
none of the initial fears re lated to hea hh and safe1 y. voiced by the oppos it io n, ha ve l.li:en rea li zed. She furthe r added
th at the program has bee n succ ess ful thu s far . Ot her com muniti es such as Hi ghland s Ran ch have ulso implemented
success ful program s. Cou ncil has recentl y taken a po si1ivc :;1ep 1owa rd devel oping a win -wi n so lut io n by appointin g
a Task Fo rce to st ud y thi s iss ue . I undersiand fro m Jcrrd l Bla ck, thal the Task Force is close 10 finali zi ng a
recomme nd atio n. I al so unders1and 1ha1 Co unci l needs to respond to th e peti ti on rcce nll y sub mi11cd by 1he res id cn1 s
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Englewood City Council
June 7, 2~
Page 9
adjacent to Jason Park , as we ll as the rccommenda1i on from the Parks and Recreati on Commission, to lcmporaril y
ban the off-leas h parks program . I believe th at Town Co un cil would like 10 prov ide a comm unit y whe re the needs
of nll of its cons tituents arc mel. Maintaining the Task Force to ils fr uit ion is a way to ac hie ve thi s success . In
summary. I respec1fu ll y request the Council postpone a decision to clo se all pnrks to off-lea sh ac tivi1y until 11 forma l
recommendatio n, which is forthcoming, is submined by lhc Task Force. At that point, Counci l wo uld have the
necessary information for making an informed deci sion based upon the input from the various parties ves ted in th is
issue. As a professional planner, I believe I co uld be of assistance with this effon and am hap py to help in anyway.
I have put my comments in writ ing to you because; unfortunately, I will not be able to auend yo ur June 7° hearing
date , due 10 a work co nflict. .I am presenting to Town Council in Parker as the staff pl anner on rwo proj ects. Th ank
you for li stening 10 all of your constituents and in striv ing 10 reach a win -win so lution . Respec tfully , Susan M.
Pacek." There was a[t,111,usc.
7. Unscheduletl Visitors
(a) Debra Brown, 2736 South Grant, said I am not just a Colorado native , I am an Englewood
native ... born and rai sed in Englewood . I remember Bates Loean Park when it was an emp ~y field. I used to walk
across there going to grade school at Washington and Charles Hay . Goin~ to the dog park with my dog to an 0 1 •
leash park was a new experience for me . I got my dog a year ago and found out about the Jason Park Group. I went
down there and found it to be a surprisingly very pleasant anri positive experience. My clog has si nce grown to
really enjoy it and become very well soci al ized . I got her from the Denver Dumb Friends League . I think having an
off-leash park is a really progress ive thing to ,.11.l. I am very proud of Englewood and the things they have dune over
the years. I think that having an off-leash park kind of goes beyond humane . to kind and benevolent treatment of
animals . I think that is a positive role model in our society. So, I just want to say that I think it allows dogs to be
dogs and allows people to socialize in a really positive way and sets a good role model. I think we have some very
responsible people here who care for their animals and care for the park very much. I just want to really be an
advocate or that . Please come and see what goes on there. It is a surprisingly pleasant and refreshing experience .
There wa s applause.
(b) Karleen Broadwater, 3106 South Sherman Streef said I am a relatively new resident to Colorado.
I have been h re a year. I oribinally lived in Littleton and now I am ,n Englewood. One or the reasons I did move
to Englewood is because I have dogs and you had dog parks. Now I live close to Bates Logan and it is closed and
now Jason Park is on the blocl. We are very concerned ... we hear a lot of rumors at the dog park ... thi s person is
upset now or so meone has complained about so mething ... and I think that on the whole, the dog owners that
patronize Jaso n Park are very conscientious. When I look around, I think what could be the problem? I am a good
citizen. I don't want to invade anyone else space, or anything like that Paul and I decided on Sunday just to go
door to door. We went to all the houses that abut up and share a fence line wit h Jason Park. As yo u will see in the
handout, there is a map ... thcy are a linle dog-cared, because people hadn 't seen them and they have been passed
back and fonh. But we went door to door and you can see the result s of who was home , who we spoke with, how
many peop le had dogs . and the ones wi th the X's are the one s that had negati ve comments ... they didn 't like the dog
park . It was very intere sting . We spoke with residents who had been there for six months and we spoke with
resi dents who had been there for 40 years, who had see n the evolution of t~e park and its use . There were a variety
of comments . Most people sa id . oh no. no iss ues wi 1h the dog pnrk. Even peop le with dogs sa id we don't really use
the dog park but we like the dog park . There weren't any huge cC\nc erns . There was one wom an who was ve ry
concerned abo ut her kids going out to th e park, she had see n a rottwcilcr ... this is a scary dog . But at th e sa me time ,
we had at least three hou se hold s who said, no my kids lake o ur dog ove r there all the time ... and you will note their
ages arc noted : 6, 11 and 13 and so the ages are th ere. I think th nt une of 1hc things that spurred thi s is I lend to be a
little wounded when people think that I have done th em harm and so thi s was a way or putting 10 re!il that wc were
irritating people . Truly it was a reall y goud ex peri ence . It w.is good to talk with these peop le an d hear what they
had to say. The thing that did co me up ... thcy asked that we please move the trnsh barrel away from their back fence
especiall y as it gets hot. That is an easy thing to do. We had peo pl e sa y that they fee l the pa rk looks great. We
spoke with a 13 year old daughter of o ne resident and we asked her if she had ever seen a soccer game
inlerrupted ... has a dog ever chast. the ball ... has n dog ever chased a kid ... and she said no. We spoke wit!l a
gentleman whose kids had played soccer th ere in the 1970's or early l980's and he said oh the geese were terrible .
They slid~ around in the slime all the time. The thing 1hat did st rike me was how many of 1hcsc house hold s did ha ve
dogs. whi ch was also brought up . But I th ought thi s was intere sting informa1ion . hcc au se th ese arc 1he people
potentially who could be offe nded or nol lik e the park. As for the 1urf issues , I'm nc.:" In Englewood,! have been
Englewood City Council
June 7, 2004
Page 10
here since January. I'm ne w 10 Co lorado a little bit more th an a year ... J have n't met an ybody in 1hc par k who isn't
willing 10 put in wo rk . to show up and clean up the park . and 10 fo ll ow directions. Every time I ge t my Engle wood
new slctlcr in the mail, I look throu(t.h it and I loo k spec ificall y fo r dog iss ue s and park iss ue s. I haven't seen any of
th ose iss ues addressed sin ce I have been here, so l think so me of it is an educ ati on and communicaii on issue . You
have an army of people licrc who are willing to ad opt the park in so me sense and do what it takes in tcnz1s of
fencing , landscap ing or wh ate ve r needs to be done . And I know that in the Englewood catalog that I get for
cl ass es .. and I pa rroni zi-the classes here in Englewood, it is a great bencfit. .. there was a thing abo ut needing people
tu Jd opt 11 gdt de n or a gurden S))Ot. You have a planner who tells you what kind of plants to b~y and you can have a
little spot wht rc yo u can contribute to the co mmunit y and purchase pansies or whatever and plant. I think the dog
communit y in general is very much in that mind set. We are happy to take care of what benefits us. We like being
part of th e com.;,u•nity . We want people 10 be happy with our presence. I guess I'm confused and this is the first
time I ha v~ v·er ~ ,:: :o one of these meetings . We ha ve great resources and we can use them and I hope we do. I
am sum lh;.t J '"9.J N.,. ~m ~lmost everybody i.hat I have ever met at the dog park , when I sa y that we are happy to do it.
So , I wo uld I:· .i: for ward to see ing soluti ons that ludud e us more and also communica tion with us. Coming from
out of state, l 'vr• never seen su ch controversy around dog issues . One oi the solutions they implemented in Salt
Lal.~ City , in a very high traffic canyon, was odd/even Jays. People wan~ to cross country ski with their dogs . It
was a mess, so on odd c:lnys you sld with your dogs nnd on even days, no dogs . A canyon behind the capital, which
is where I lived in Salt Lak,., City ... one side of the canyon all ,:,wcd for runners, bikers , walkers and the other side of
the cany<'n unp.&¥.c d de:r trails ... that is the dog side . Three times a year they have a big banner hanging over
Memor y Oroo ,c tltat says, Clean -Up Day and you go over there and there are hundreds of people that use that
canyon and that park that show up and we redo trails, we restock bags, we do whatever it takes and it is a really fun
community thing. I think that is another huge benefit of this dog park community is that I am a new,;omer and this
ha s become my co mmunity . This is how I have learned about Colorado. This is how I have learned about politics .
And so it has been enormously beneficial to me personally. I think tbcrc arc solutions out there and I think you
should tap us as a resource very aggressively. Thank you. There was applause. .....
Council Member Moore asked how many speakers do we have left? Mayor Garrett said we have two pages . Mr.
Moore said we do have other business that we need to attend to and there are a lot of people who would like to
speak . Do we need to set up a different time where we can finish the discussions so we can handle our other
business? Mayor Garrett said we decided to put it on the agenda for the 21". This is really the opportunity for them
to speak . Council Member Bradshaw said that is true . Mr. Garren said ifwe hadn 't done that , ifwc were
postponing we could actually set it up 111so for the 211t , but we don't have any formal opportunity fo r the people to
speak until the ne xt meeting . Mr . Moore said thank you . Council Member Bradshaw snid we are going to continue .
(c) Caroline Calhoun, 4501 South Pe nnsylvania Street , said I want to thank yo u guys fo r le tting us all
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speak and letting us all come and voice our opinions . Bcc:i.usc obviously with the turnout we have, this :s prdty
dear to all of our hearts . Sorry to single you out Mr . Moore, but as you said in the mecring, the only opti on is to
close the dog park . I kind of think you could be wro ng, because we are not going to stop going 10 the park . I moved
into my house alm ost four years ago. I didn 't know anybody and I sat around ... I li ve by myself and it gets a little
nerve wr nc king ... no hu sband and no kid s. Got my dog and started going to the park . Now every morning 1111mg
out with Bill and Rila and it is not just running your dog . I know everybody"s life . I know everythin g thlll happens.
When someone's dog dies, we all sit and get snd . It is a friendship thing . It is not just a han ging out thin g. I
un derstand that children get to pin y a nd I understand that we should have socc er games, and I unde rstand we shoulcl
have T-bnll games, but 1 don'I have kids. I pay my taxes, I deserve my park a nd I don't have th e other ou tl ets 1hat
some other people might have . I just think that telling me th at my time a nd my soci al life and my concern s are not
as imponant as a soc cer team ... well, I'm willing to wager that mos t of the children are not Engle wood kids and they
are probably not paying taxes like I do . Wh y am I watering a fi eld so that somebody el se can enjoy it'! l 'm not
saying that I don't want them too as well. I thin~ you can make it work for everybody , but you have lo look at the
single person who lives by herself who was nervvus . I got a dog to be safe and now I know all of my neighbors .
They arc go ing to take care of my dog when I go out of town . They will watch my house. There i~ a sense of •
co mmunit y and ii brings the wh ole communit y 'Ogether where you know everybody . The y keep trac k of yo u. Th ey
make sure everything is goin g okay. If I didn 't show up they would wonder what happened . I mean, otherwise,
what am I goi ng 10 do? Go to th e bar every ni ght ? That is nol an opt io n for me . Whe re else can I go 10 soci aliic
myself as well as my dog in a healthy. safe wa y that promotes communit y, it promotes safe ty, it docs not promote
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Englrwoo d Cit~• Co un cil
June 7, 200.S
Puge II
goose and ii dncs n ·1 promo 1e drug dea lers. I don't un ders tand how yo u ca n make such an easy deci sion as 10 say
1hat my life and my happiness comes in secon d to a T-b all game, because I don't 1h ink 1hat is fair . And. I don't
rea ll y thin k it is a droug ht iss ue, beca use if it was we would n't haw~ built 1he big wa ter park. I think ii lakes a heck
of a lot less water to water a park th nn to build a bi g slid e. But ag:1 in , that is for children . Well my dog can't go
dow n a sli de so I guess I ca n't use that park , let 1he kid s go there . I am not tr ying to say that we should n't all be ab le
10 live toget!·er and work logethcr bu t the who le thi ng is, I lhink we should . And, 1 don 't want to have 10 go back
und be coo ped up in my house. not kn ow ing my nei ghbors. not feeling sa fe . and not having anythin g 10 do in the
eveni ng but sil there and wa tch TV . I don't rea ll y like the TV . I would much rather si t out side and get some
exe rcise . I know th at so unds sill y to yo u gllys. but I also feel lik e as member of th e co mmunit y, I get 10 usc ii too .
know yo u guys are prett y tired, beca use yo u ha ve two pages of people sig ned up . but obviously yo u co n tell that we
re ally are not going away. These are my friends now. I am go in g to hang out wi th my friends even if my dog is on
a leash. So wear and tear on the park is reall y kind of going to get taken off the taLle, because we are still using it.
And I don't mea n that in a bad way , You know, it is a much more fun , hea lth y, sa fe place and it is so methin g fo r a
single perso n like me to be ab le to go out , whe re al ni gh t I might not fee l sa fe taking my dog just on a wal k around
the streets . But I do feel safe hanging out wit h 10 fr iend s ii.at I have gotten to know quit e we ll actually . Maybe I
am just a geek who wants 10 hnng out at th e park, but I gue ss I have th at rif hl to be a geek who gets to hang out at
the park , rather than an alco holic who hang s out at 1hc bar. So, anyway, I know we arc kind of doinf thi , ad
nau seam, but we felt it was necessary. Thanks . I won't take up all my time . because I thin !{ we are still do wn to
what ... two and a half pages. There was applause.
(d) Ap ril Cli fton, 819 South Loga n, said J ;.m an un sc heduled guest and I have an unprep ared talk , but
it is a subj ec t that I feel ve ry passio n11tc about. I am new to the area . As a socia ' 1hing. I don't ha ve kids and I am
no longer physically able to do things like soccer and softball. I think there arc many people who do not 01 ca nnot
ha ve children and cann ot appreciate the park in the phys ical way that children and adults in spa ns activit ies ca n. My
pets are my family and now , visiting thi s park is a soc ial life. As the woman be fo re rr.c sn id . it 1s a se nse of
community . '\ ou can mo.kc co nnection s th ere , not just as friends or dog sitte rs. bu t other bu siness ct.,nn ect ions and
for so meone who is new in the area , getting to know where to do thi s an d that. It is ve ry impon an t. I am new and I
don't know all the parks , but I noticed that th is park. in my opinion, is much cl eane r and mu ch nicer. In the
informative meeting earlier it seemed that the tu rf and the he alth of th e park was an iss ue. whereas if you can loo k at
many of the parks where dogs are not all owed off-lc at,h. th t:y are not in as good a co nditi on. Not just goose poo p.
yo u may find more dog poo p just beca use there isn't anyone poli cing . :)o. I fee l strongly because it is a communit y,
as man y people ha ve menti oned . It docs see m ii would reall y help if yo1..1 did ac tually go and visit the park . I heard
al the informati on meeting. people were requ es ting pi clures . which were great, bu! just stopp ing by and co mparin g a
coup le of parks and slopping by Jason, I think would make so mu ch differe nce in }'Our opinions. I know that not
everyone has time :o do th at, but ii is quick and you li ve in the area. That is all I am goin g to say. I am going to
leave mo re time for pe ople who nrc prepa red. Th ank yo u. There wa s ap plau se.
(c) Alice Hann a. 4420 Sou lh Elati Street, sa id I am going m say jusl one qu ic k th ing. The two tim es
1hat I ha ve met more pe ople in th e Cit y of Eng lewood was fi rst, during th e bli zzard because I had 10 go outside and
shovel my front ya rd. I met a lot of new nei ghbors. I ha d just moved 10 th t! Englewood area a ye ar and a half ago.
And . th e seco nd lime was when Bates Loga n cl osed. beca use more peo ple ca me to jaso n Pa rk . I began mee ting my
neig hbors .. .f live on ~:lU th Elati Street. I lh ink now . in 1hc pas t six montn s, I have met fi ve or six peo pl e wh o li ve
on my street. just beca use of the dog park iss ue and ii has rea ll y he)pcd fu sta the co mm unit y. I am going 10 read a
lener th at I put 1oge thcr 1his wee kend and had sig ned by abo ut 65 off-le:1sh supp orters. I am going to read that 10
yo u. "Dear Cou ncil Me mbe rs: The off-leash parks in E!'lgl cwood are :m es se nt ia l part of our co mmunity a nd I urge
yn u to keep th em uff-leas h. Thr ug h Englewood's off-leash parks , I have met olhe rs fr om my neighborhood :ts well
as from other part s of 1he Eng lewood co mmunil y. The benefits of off-leash p:1rks arc for our dogs as well as for 1hc
peop le. Our dogs are able lo get th e exercise they need and soci alize with other dogs, res ultin g in we ll -be haved and
public ly safe dogs. Th e dog ow ners arc ab le 10 mee t and soc ialize wi lh olh er membe rs of the community . For many
of us, we hav e cre ated wonderfu l fri ena ship s and have met more peop le from our neighborhood s through these off-
leas h park s. In add iti on 10 exe rcisi ng our dogs, we ha ve monthly soc ial fun ct ions and park clea n-up dnys th at arc
orga ni zed through the multiple for mal gro up s that have bee n crca 1ed 10 add ress the needs of off-leash park s nnd th e
users' enjoyment Tho re of us who use the se park s. va lu e 1heir importance and arc responsible dog owners. We arc
stric t to enforce was te ,,ick up and keeping our dogs fr om the park s' oth er patrons. as we are aware of ol hcrs who
use the se park s as we ll. Taking away our off-le as h pri vil eges will remove :m imponant pa rt of th e Englewood
community . I support off-leash park s in Englewood and I urge City Council to ke ep off-leash privileges in th e
Englewood City Council
June 7, 2004
Page 12
c urrent off-le as h park s." She th en read the name s fr om the k 11;:rs that had been signe<l by off-leas h support ers. I
am so rry to read th ose. but I wanted to make sure th ey were r 111t of th e rrcord. I also wa nted yo u 10 see how m.:iny
peo ple that m.:iy not be here 1onigh1 really support thi s. I am go in g 10 1 anc~ lhi!m lo the Ci ty Clerk 10 make sure th ey
arc part of 1he record . I appreci ate yo ur tim e. Thank yo u. There .1::.r ap;la usc.
(f) Jonath an Pat ch. 8 I 9 South Lo gan Street, said I wi ll keep it short . Jaso n Park is an cxccllcnl place
10 go. I wa s prett y surpri sed wh en I fir st went there th at it was set up in Lt,~ way it was, becau se the p1 ess ure on
delibera ti ve bod ies such as this . is to keep thing s safe and low 1 bk and joyless . I was quire frankl y impre ss ed 1hat
thi !) type of env ironm ent was set up . I think yo u've done a wonder fu l job. You arc on the right track ... stay with it .
Thank yo u. There wa s app lau se.
(g) Robert Eri ckso r1, 4061 South Acoma, said there is not much I want to add to wh at has already
been said tonigh t, except .... whi ch is alre.:idy pretty much .:i given . but may have been forg ouen ., .a bout the bond
between animal s and peop le. There have bee n plenty of studies done wit h hospital patients and dogs and cats and
the therapeutic valu e of th eir connection. You know, the people that are sick or alco holi cs or drug addicts . If you
visi t the park you mighl get a wet nose, bu1 ii is a lot better reaction than you ca n get from a lot of other differe nt
situations . I ha ven'! seen any drug dealers at the park or any teenagers doing drugs or drinkmg alcohol in the
comers. And I haven '( see n any kind of possib le molestation type of situations going on. It could be, but I can 't say
positively for a fact , but it could be because there is the wet nose factor . There is a pos sibi lit y of the stray dog
running over and possib ly stampi ng hi s wet nose on somebody who is tryi ng to be pretty coo l and do some illegal
activity . I just want to throw that injusl as a Jiltle added tidbit. Thank yo u. There was applause.
(h} Chery l Popevis, 5932 South Crestview, said the park is wonderfu l, please don 't close it 10 us. I
think it is great that the park is wel l used. I lhink that is what a pi ~!.:. is for. That means tha t you are doing a great
job . So, please do n't close it . Th e grass will come back . Thank yo u, she said . There wa s applause.
(i) Marianne Criswe ll, 3969 So uth Che rokee Street, said , except for seven years thal I sp ent in our
nati on's capita l, I ha ve been a resident c.f Englewood since 1964. What I have learned throughout my lif,: is th at it is
the govern ment's responsibilily to build a communi t y. This dog park adds to your community in such a way lhat I
don't think yo u know. I was rather surpr ised, in th e earlier meeting tonight, that so meone was asking for pi ctures .
The park is approximately 10 blocks f-rom here . When was the last ti me any of you have gone th ere'! Our
congressmen arc well known for taking fact fi ndin g trips ... they like :o spend a lo t of money . I will be more than
happ y to buy you a soda or a cup c f coffee and you ca,1 come on over and take a loo k at it. The park is nut in bad
shape . The worst parts I have seen on it is that you will see four squares. Two up and tw back , put a ne1 in
between ... that is voll eyba ll . That is from one weeke nd . Th e drought is bad everywhe re. l am a community
member .. .I don't have children . If you would like to take the tax es I pay th at go to the sch oo l board and give it 10
the park , I would be more th.in happy, becau se that is where I go with my kid Patc h. If yo u don'! believe that ii doc s
build communit y. yo u should hear th e whi spers as I .:im coming up ... "that 's Patch 's momma ." I don't know many
of these people by name , I'm 1errible with people names ... but I co uld probabl y tel l yo u ea ch of th e dog's name s.
Thi s is part of my co mmunity and I ha ve bee n proud to be a member or th e Engl ewood co mmuni1 y. Pl •.ise keep th e
park open . Thank you , she said . There was appl ause.
(j) Shannon Stur ge n, 2431 So ulh Tejon Street, said l am a reg is1ered volcr in En glewood and I ,. ;.
I cont ac ted r verybod y on Frida y to tell yo u I was pro choice ... that I am in fav or of th e off-leash dog park s and the
only perso n I actually spoke to was Devcrl y. I didn't lalk 10 anybody else, nobod y else call ed me back , even 1hm•gh
I left my phone number . Bu t, like l said . I want 1he dog park open . I don't ha ve an y kid s eithe1 . l want my dog at
the pa rk . l live by a green be lt park . out it is no t a good park fo r dogs. It is nar ro w. the kid s are in the stree t, the kid s
h~rn ss my dog. There is nothin g th at yo u guys 1.'o 10 stop 1h nt from goin g on. But I wa n! my dog at th e park ... that's
it. There was appl ause .
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(k) Kathleen Buckle y, 4648 South Pe arl Street, said I know it ha s been a long even ing, so I wi ll mak e
thi s very short . I ju sl want to say I suppo rt eve ryone 's commcn1 s from before . I know there arc drought co ncern s, •
that were addressed in !he meeting pri or lo thi s, and I'm just thinki1 J that with th e summer comin g, I know my dog
just gets very lethargi c and does n't run around ver y much, but I know we will go there and pro babl y just han{! out.
So ma ybe th at wo uld be a decre ase in the wear and tear on the grass. I don't think it is rea ll y that much of n
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Englewoo d Cil)' Counc il
June 7, 200-1
Pu ge 13
pmo lem. It is a bca u1 iful park . ii is a bc:tul ifu l communi t y. I jus1 hope 1ha1 yo u wi ll suppo rt us and keep ii ope n.
Thanks, she ~ai d. There was app lause.
f l) Jenni fer Newt on. 4062 So uth Acoma Stree t. said I have li ved here 0\'Cr 30 years an d I too nm a
wo man wi th out k1:ls, so my lax money is go in g to park s. I hope. so I ca n use th em. Bui I just wa nted 10 sa y 1hat I
j usl discove red thi s pa rk abo ut a yea r ago . I have n 14 yea r old dog and an 8 month old puppy who is ve ry
rambun cti ous and th e pu pp y lives fo r 1ha1 pa rk. I ca11 not skip a da y ... my li fe is hell with out it It is just nor fun .
Wh at I have di scovered is 1ha1 th ere is a bca uufu\ co mm unit y here of nice peop le who like eac h ot her. And I tell
yo u wha1 ... a ft cr wo rking 1hc c..istomcr se rv ice des k all day . it is rea ll y ni ce to sec peo pl e be in g nice to eac h oth er. It
is just a good th ing and I wo uld hal e to see it go away . Wh at I see here is 1 mud dlin g of iss ues. I sec an iss ue wi th
the dro ught . But I think we arc usin g gre y water on 1hat park , so ii shoul dn': be as bi g an issue . I y,e an iss ue with
leas h or off-leas h. I don't see what difference a leash wo uld make ... we 're go in g to use 1he park any way . And I ~ .. e
an iss ue where thi s thin g has n't bee n pu bli cized 10 the co mmunit y. I have n't !.ce n any pos tin gs , I have n't see n it 111
any of th e pape rs. I have n't seen what th e prob lem is. We have a dro ught , w~ will deal with it. There are ways of
fenci ng thin gs off ... mavhe we need to spread the dogs out in more areas. I just don't sec thi s bl ack and white , ye s
and no thin g worki n us< don't think yo u are dea li ng with the vo 1crs. I mean I ha ve my ri ghts too, I need to
go to that park , I nr oress, It is a good thing . That 's about all I ca n say. Pl ease consi der us all . There
wa s applaus-:.
(m) Reea , 46 1 West Quincy. said I li ved th ere fo r 10 or 11 years now. In yo ur ear li er
di sc uss ions, be fo re thi s mCt.,. "=• it seem ed th at yo u were foc usin g more on the drought iss ue and th e hard ship on the
grass and 1J,e t urf in th e p:irk . Some of the co mments thal were made was gel rid of the dogs. Inste ad of takin g one
fa cti on or one usage out of the park, it should be spread 10 1he wh ole communit y. If dogs are a probl em, limit the ir
use. but also limit T-ball, soccer, vo ll ey ball. picnics ... lhe complete use cf it , instead of singling out one particular
gro up . It is a r "ric fo r Englewood. For the citi zens here, fo r anyo ne here . To sin gle out one group ... l think th ai 1s
wrong . Seer. .J ly, I started using the park abo ut a year ago. I know the re arc co riccms with peo ple, with do~s be ing
off-leas h a~d be ing around children . I am fully aware of thi s. I am on my third rottwe iler . Probabl y, one of the
sc ariest dogs that arc do•vn at the park . When I used to walk my two rottweilers , people would cross the street.
Th ey were scared of the dogs beca use of reputatio n and lack of •:d ucati on. Havi ng my dog down at the dog park , I
ha ve aclu all y had parent s brin g thei r children ove r to the dog to pet it , 10 show the kids th at it is not what it is md e
o ut to be . It is good for th e children a nd it is good fo r th e commun il)' to know that a particular breed is not vi cious,
bcca usfll: of it s bre ed. And it has been good for me . because I have be en abl e to socia li ze my anim als, whic h in turn
makes t:i cm be tter animal s in th e communil j', I wo uld hope th at yo u wo uld make a good dec ision on findin g a
so luti on fo r this, rather than just endin g µri vileges of just one gro up . Thank yo u. he sa id . There was appl ause.
(n) Glorile n Wa shatko. 4 140 So uth Inca Stre et, sa id my h1Js band and l moved int o Engle, ·ood, into
our home abo ut 4 ½ years ago. We t.:njoy the nei gh bo rh ood, we like the ne igh bo rh ood. I checked out the
neigh borh ood very cl ose ly, befo re we moved in , j us t to rn al..~ sure it was a good c hoice fo r us . One of the th ings
that we rea ll y lik ed was Ja so n Park . I think , al thar time, it was n't an off-leash dog park. We wo ul d go for wa lk s in
the eve nin g, us uall y be lwccn th e ho urs of 8:00 p.m. and 11 :00 p.m .• and thi.:re we re lim es when we were wa lkin g
th at we wo uld sec i.lC ti viti es happe nin g in 1he parkin g lot and in the park that we re mi sc hi e·•ous al be st. I ·us!X'C I
1here we re probab ly drug dea ls go in g on, ma ybe oth er ac ti vit ies. but we di dn ·1 rea ll y go c,vcr and fi r.d o ul what they
we re doin g. We j ust wa lk ed home. Sin ce thi s has beco me a dog park, we don't see th at :mymo rc and we still go fo r
wa lk s be twee n the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 11 :00 p.m. or we will take our dog to go walk in th e park . Somet hin g tha t
yo u slH.•uld know is th at I nm not ~ dog ow ner fo r man y yea rs. We have recen tl y ado pted :i pet and her name is
Sa ll y. She is a pa r1 of our fa mil y. She is ve ry special to us and we lO nside r her a fam il y member . If yo u take awa y
Ja r.o n Park fr om the dog owners ... 10 people who have pets in th eir fa mil y and th ey an! ac tuall y a part of thei r
fa mily ... wo uld be like laking ;1way privi leges to chil dren in fa mil:es. Dogs are n·1 rea ll y any differe nt th an
childrcn ... tli ey arc fo mil y membe rs. They req uire exe rcise and ca re j ust like an yth ing else docs. I only fo und ou1
abo ut thi s th is past wee k. so I haven't had ve ry much lime 10 prepare. 1 was curin us why 1here have n't be en more
thin gs in the news paper or on fl ye rs. I had to hear it fr om other people in the par k ... th at 1his was poss ibl y
so methi ng th at could happe n. Th at the off-leash dog pa rk pri vil eges co ul d tJe take n away . I was surprise d beca use J
have nc·,er heard of or see n a sin gle pro bl em with the dogs or th : kids or the int erac tio n of the peo pl e there. Have
any of you go ne lo th e p; rk and 'lc tu all y see n it or checked it out ? So metl·ing el se yo ..i should know is th at I am
used to fi xi ng things. I was a comrmcr tec hni cia n for a long tim e anci I moved int u a te~c hing pos iti on, beca use my
job was dow nsized. My ex pe rien.:c has ta ught me 1ha1 there are so luti ons lo prob lems. My experi ence as a teac her
En glewoo d City Counci l
June 7, 2004
Page I~
has tau sht me tha l so lu tions to many problems usi:all y in vo lve car in g and sharing a nd comm unit y. To foc us on ju st
one group of people wh o have dog s, who utili ze a park a nd acmal!y make ii safer. is not rig 1u. It is no! rig ht. There
arc many opti ons that cou ld be loo ked at fo r so me thin g like th at. There co ul d be particu lar hours for dog s to be off-
lca~h. somethin g 10 where everybody has to share th e park. It should be divided equally . You should n't tnke away
priv il ege s fo r one gro up of peop le just because yo u think that 1s goi ng 10 so lve th e problem, especially sin ce you
have n't bee n to the park a nd ac tu ally see n it. Mike Flaherty to ld me tha t th ere arc . on re cord. prob lems at Bate s
Logan Pa rk with rl ogs and childre n. I don't know of anythi ng like th at, but agai n. I have n'! had time ti) do my
t omewo rk and my research. I don't think anybody here has heard of any problems. Have yo u? Again, so me
poss ible so lut io ns arc sc heduled off-leas h dog hours. II wo uld ultimately save money and promote co mmunity
harm ony. I have he ard of some peo pl e talkin g abo ut the mell from the conlainers where the dog dropp ings go. A
po ss ible solut io n to th at would be spec ial co ntainers fo r dog dro pping s 10 eli minate po ssi bl e Fu ture co mp la ints . You
guys have an opportunit y here 10 be leaders, 10 promote community and to make a good dec isio n. You ha,1e an
opport unit y to be, not only lea ders here in Engl ewood. but fo r othe r citi es too, to sec Englewood a!i an example of
how they so lve prob lem s. I stro ngly ur ge each of yo u to be fair and eq uitable 10 all ci tize ns and famil y members of
Englewood and to not si ngle out a select few . Especia ll y when yo u have not gone and see n what the park is and
wh at it docs and what it in volves. I thank yo u for th e opportun it y to speak to yo u. I know you are tired, just like
eve ryo ne else here. I th ank yo u fo r not changing th e ~ ·la, to try to cul the mce tfo g short . Please make the right
deci sio n. Please lak e in to considerati on every bc-'· Just a sel ect group of peo ple . Th an k yo u. There was
app lause .
(o) Victoria LeBert, 240 East Corn ell , said I am so rry as I know it has been a long evening and I will
try to make it quick . I just want to say a co uple of things that I didn't hear il.nybod y else say. One is the iss ue of the
stress on Jaso n Park. It is kind of ironic that yo u clos e Bates Park, because there was stre ss on 1he park ... well it was
o ne of the rcasons ... and we all moved to Jason Park and now we are talking about closing Jason and if we all left
there a nd went lo anoth er off-leash par11. ,I would triple the stre ss on that park . I al so wa nted to Sa)' tha t I contribute
a large percentage of my dog 's excellent behavior to off-leash parks . We ha ve the opportunity to let her go away
from me and then I ca ll her back . I have never heard of a ::,ro bl em with the soccer ga mes th at was mentioned , I ha ve
never heard of a probl em with a child bein g hun by a~~• { or bei ng harmc , ! by the feces of a dog . I support what
these peo ple say and I do thi nk th ere arc co mp rom :, ~:-S. 1c peop le are willing to pay for lice nses to take their
dogs to off.leas h park s. Just as a suggestio n. Tho··•; .. :;, wa nt ed to say . Thank yo u for yo ur time. she sa id . The re
wa s a pplau se.
(p) Bill Gedeon, 460 Wes t Quin cy. sa id I ha\l C be en there abou t 27 VJ years . Not 10 re peat anythin g
anybody else ha s said, but I wc-uld im agi ne the cos . or Ci ty all owi ng us th e pri vil ege of usin g th e off-leas h park is
minim al. Empt yi ng garbage -:u ns is about all I sec and for mos t of us we clea n up after our dogs a nd other dogs.
We brin g pl as tic bags fo r other people and I have ~cc n peo ple actu all y tellin g cigare lle smok ers 10 quit thro wi ng
th ei r bull s on th e gro und . We hn vc suc h an in ve stme nt in Ja so n Park . I rea ll y wo nder if yo u take th at away fro m
thi s, if that commitm e nt is going to be th ere anymore and yo ur cos t of cleaning up th e park is go in g 10 go up . Th at's
abo ut all I have 10 say , oth er than 1 wis h you would eac h co me dow n th ere any tim e. any day to sec what it is like .
Thank you. he sa id . There was app lau se.
(q) Nam:y Roges, 2829 Sou th Logan , sai d rea ll y th e onl y thin g I wo uld like to say is that there arc a
lot of viab le opt ions lo make th is work . I understan d th at th e Ta sk Force has bee n in effec 1 ror . I think . abou t 6
mo nth s now. Wh at I wo uld stro ngly en courage yo u to do is hire a profe ss io nal medi amr. I ha\'C bee n in vo lved in
union nego ti ati ons and we have used problem so lvi ng, where eac h side is allowed to ha ve 1heir intere sts hea rd and
co me to an agrcem cnl , becau se I don't thi nk that the Task F,.irL·c is goi ng to he able to re ac h a deci sion if1 here arc
two sides witho ut anyo ne hc lpin~ th em to med b !e th ei r ..iw n op inion s. I think ii is a waste of tim e. Tha nk s, she
said . Th ere was app lau se.
(r) Jill Toma so. 32 18 South ...og un Street, I just wa nt to say that I sup pon the dog park and expec t a
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deci sio n to be mad e that is fa ir to cve ryb.>dy. That a co mpro mi se will be made that is fair 10 all ci ti zens who ui.e the
park, beca use we li ve here too and we pay taxes and I don't thi nk yo u w:rnt 10 make a hormo nal. preg nant womtn •
npse l. Th ere was ap pl ause.
(~J Jan Birmin gham. 4180 Sou th Ja so n Street. said I am direc tl y ac ross th e s1rce1 fr om the park .
Alt ho ugh I hnve o nl y lived the re a short pe ri od of time. I lived in Denver since 1979 . M} daug ht er and I used lo go
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Englewood City Council
June 7, 200-i
Pogo 15
to Jaso n Park and play on 1he playg round and we had pizza in th e park all 1he 1ime . I have ~.wa ys loved Lh al park
and when I had 1he opportu nity 10 move across the street fr om it , I just cheris hed i1. Wh en J found out it was a dog
park, I was eve n more 1hrillcd. I see peop le come and ihat th e dogs arc happy to be there anct 1hcy don't bark that
mu ch. There is more noise fr om the vo lle yba ll playe rs than th e kid s or the dog s. They havt ,' wonde rful lime. It is
a wonderfu l facilit y. I ha ve seen more dogs leave dropp ings in Washin gton Park than 1 have at Jason Park . because
there is no peer press ure to pick up after your dog. Peo plejus1 go "oh. nobody 's looking" anti they walk away . I
don't see that at Ja so n Park . I see people going ove r th ere and pla ying with their dogs. I ser. J)';oplc going there
every day . I sec so me people going there twi ce a da y. I just recentl y moved in. so I loo k s.J me 1i.nc off work 10
unpack and so I was wa 1chin g all thi s and I ve ry much look fo rward to taking my dog. either on o· off-lea sh to Ja son
Park . Thank yo u very much . :;he sa id . There was applause.
(t) Lisa Miller. 403 Easl Mexico Av enue, said, qui1e frankly, I can't say anymore than wha1
everybody else has already said, other than 10 ask if anybody has done an y re search in any other ci1y like Seanle,
San Franci sco, Chicago or New York City . where they have dog parks ev1~rywhere? Very successful dog parks. I
think if we did some research and found out how these park s we re very successfu l, we co uld have that here. It is
si mple. It cou ld be a very simple so lution . If you can't do yo ur re search , then we can do our research, because it is
happening . It is happening in Central Park. How many pe ople arc Lhere? Kids and everything. So, it can ha ppen in
these very large cities . Denver doesn't compa re to New York City . I think it can happen . That is all . she sai d.
There was applause.
(u) Chris Sc <Ion , ?1)455 Conifer Road, Evergreen, said I am not a resident of yo ur City, but I do enjoy
the dog parks. I should probably 1ell yo u exact ly how that comes to be. I am president of the Colorado Disc Dogs .
A Frisbee dog club , ba sed here in the front range and all ove r the Staie . ( am also a founder and board member of
the UFO, which is an international Frisbee dog orga nization . We run the world cup series which, last year, took a
stop in Liuleton, but we enjoyed a night of recreation and soc ial activities with compc1itors fro m all over the cou ntry
at Sheridan Park, which l believe is part of the Englewood park system . I wond er if a.ny or you folks were in politics
30 years ago? Some things happened back then that arc fairly significant. I want to start off by ta lking about some
logical things that were poi nted out in the informational meeting . The issue that the dog people aren 't going away .
Never. They are going to be there all the lime ... on-lcash or off-leash. And th:y don't impact the quality of the park
grass. The water iss ue is different from the dog impact iss ue. And sp reading it around to eve rybod y is a much more
equi1abl c so lution . I brought up 30 years ago. because 30 yea rs ago, Augu sl 5. 1974 , a crazy guy by the name of
Alex Stein too k hi s crazy dog and they jumped over the fence at Dodger's Stadium and onto the field, the seve nth
inning s1re1ch, and he started th ro wing Fri sbe es for his dog . In thi s day and age he would have been arres ted and
thrown in jail real quick . bu! back then. Joe Garagi ola, calling th e game . though! it was very nove l and they lei it go
on. on national :cl e1•ision, for about 10 minut es. II was 1he sta rt of a rev oluti on and that r:vo lution was dog
ownership , kind of. h didn't create a muhi-million dollar sport that is on televis ion all the time. ii didn't crea te an
elite clas s or breed 01 jog. What ii did was create 1hi s reall y fun activity 1hat people arc abl e 10 enjoy wi th the ir dog.
Whe n they got involved, suddenly they di sco vered their dogs and th ey found out that there is a bond between
own ers and their dogs . Everybody here und ers1nnds 1ha1. I bring up the Frisbee becau se 1hat is what I am invol ved
in . I don '1 want 10 go too for dow n that road or we could be there all niLhl. But Lhis led to agility and the ny ball.
Frisbee is kind of 1he granddaddy of all 1he dog sports and 1he revo lut io n wasn't in the dog sport, the revoluti on was
the bond with peop le an d 1heir dogs. The re vo luti on cJme at a lim e when yo ur cho ice : 1 dog foo.1 was 10 go down
to the feed mill and pick up 50 r :mnd s or Purina and split it among you r friend r w,. ',ave moved to highl y
scic n1 ific diet s and billi ons and billi ons or doll ars . In 2002 , $95 bi lli on wa s sr •~n' ·.•r. dog produc1 s by Americans.
Th ese arc pe opl e who ha\'C taken dogs in1 0 th eir li ves and they ha ve become ,1 part or 1heir liv es. To den y 1hem , as a
gro up or peop le. access 10 so me pr iv il eges, \\here 1hey are not rea ll y ca usin g problem s ... it does n't make a lot of
se nse. So I just wn nl 10 :,Jy 1ha1 I reall y sup pe r! you guys and in the posilion ym 1 are at now. Becau se. yo u guy s arc
at co mprom ise ... yo u have ac hi eved co mpru1ni se ... yo u are 1hcrc ... you ha ve parks where pe ople ca n go with 1hei r
dogs and yo u have place s where you have to keep the do gs on lease or keep th e usage out. By closin g that dow n 10
pco pl c ... as it has been pointed ou1. .. and you conce ntrate you r focus where the dogs arc going to be ... it is going to
get worse. I ha\'e see n it happen. pcrso nall v ... fir st hand. I lived in Fort Co llins for ten yea rs and when they finall y
opened one dog park , it was a 101 or fun for the fir st few day s nnd then when 1hc grass was go ne and there was onl y
din left , because ii wus half an acre and that was th e onl y pla ce yo u could lega ll y go. it wa sn '1 so mu ch fun
anymore . But dis tributing that wear. yo u arc going 10 sec a lot better reso urces pul 10 use by !he people here .
An ot her iss ue that I should poi nt out here is repul ali on. For a long time 1he Cily of Den ver had a repu1ation for
be ing very anti-dog and that re puiati on still cxi s1s wi1h 1hem . They have made so me steps forwa rd , so me very good
Englewood City Council
June 7, 2004
Pogc 16
steps by o pening up 1hcir dog parks. but th ei r dog laws arc drn co nian . The dog parks arc a good s1cp, bul cvcrybod ·
knows about th e undercove r dog police that they had in Wa shin gton Park . Whal kind of menta lity do yo u have 10
have 10 do that ? Now, I under stand why they do that . It is bec au se of th e bad a ppl es and the bad ap ples do spo il it
for eve rybody. We ha ve a lot of ve ry progre ss ive gro up s here th at try to min imi ze 1he bad app les and re-edu cate
peop le. Thal is not a road that anyo ne wa nts to go dow n. We do not want 10 see Englewood becom e that place
where the dog thing is just not working . The dog thin g is wo rkin g and it is not the iss ue yo u 1hink it is. I reall y
sup po rt you guys and the pos iti on of com promise that yo u are at right now . Keep tha t compro mi se and keep
working with the people and kee p those op 1ions open fo r everybody . Shutting the doo r ... th at's drac onian . Keeping
ii opc n ... th at's progre ss ive . As a res id ent of Col orado and th e Co lorado life style 1hat I have enjoye d my whole life,
and be ing involved in lots of different spo ns where th ere is multi -use and different groups int erac tin g ... I was a
mountai n biker fo r a long time and I saw the horse/biker/h iker issues jog around each other. They find their
level ... th ey do ... and I tru st that yo u guys wil l ha ve the wi sdom to find tha1 level yourself. I thank you for the time
here and I suppon you and yo ur decis ions of co mpromi se. Th ank yo u, he sai d. Th ere was app lause.
(v} Christi Goodman, 30455 Conifer Road. Evergreen , said I am here becau se I am a member of
Colorado Di sc Dogs and we use one or your par ks, once a month . for our Fri sbee ga th eri ngs. So that is the ge nes is
of my ini erest. However, I wanted to poin t out that I have been a dog trainer for ove r 20 yea rs. Clearly , all the se
people here are pro off-leash dog park, but even the peop le who di sagree with off-leash dog parks. would agree that
since th ere are dogs in our co mmuni ty, we ll beha ved dogs, safo dogs, are our ultim ate goal. And that is dog ow ners
and people who want to be lef1 alone by we ll -be ha ved, well -socialized dogs . As a dog tra in er I can only stress the
im portance of socia li zatio n to a well -beha ved dog . It doe sn't happen on a le as h. I have taught many dog training
classes, I have been to many dog training classes and that kind of dog to dog interaction only happens off-leas h. For
whatever reason, the leash is a psychological barrier for dogs getting well soc ialized. So you are not going 10 ha ve
as we ll behaved dogs, if you have no off-leash areas for dogs to socialize. Also. being the ow ner of two extremely
act ive Au stralian Shepherds , I know that a tired dog is a good dog. So the things that ha ve been mentioned earlier
abo ut barking, behavioral problems , dig ging and fence fighting ... everything thal dogs get into trouble for, can be
so lved with a lot of regular exercise. Like the guy said earlier, I can't jog that fa st or that long, which is actually
why I started playing Frisbee . I wanted to point out, as a citizen. that I am very proud of the Englewood attitude
toward s dogs, or I ha ve been, .and I poi nted it out to all of the people who came fr om all ove r the co untry last year to
our big eve nt in August, th at we have so me of the most progressi ve dog auitudes in lhe count ry, here in Englewood
and many of th em were ve ry jealous. I would really hate to inform them tha1 that has gone away. I didn 't come to
the earli er mC(!t in g, but I wanted to po int out. regarding th e turf iss ues, th at I heard fr om the turf man ager at Mile Hi
Stadium that whe n we go and do halftime perfo rmances for th em th ey are thrill ed to death. beca use th e dogs ca use
1he leas t amou nl or <lamage of anybody who co me s into th e siadium . Th ank yo u ver y mu ch fo r yo ur time, she said.
There was ap pl .n
(w) Euge ne No rm an said lhi s has been a very int erestin g dog day eve nin g. I ha ve been a res ident of
Englewood fo r 75 years. I think th ere arc dog people and ca t peo ple and th en are_ius t people peop le . I co .1sider
mys elf to be a peop le perso n. We ... yo u and I ... us ... America ... th e whole wo rld . acco rding to the laws of ph ys ics,
we exis t or manifes t in , at best. a void. Whal we do with . and in tha1 illu sion, is u5. All of us creating . What we
crea1e is a wo rl d yo u sec before you. We ... yo u ... us ... mc. we all crea 1e our li ves on both subjec.ivc ,md obj ect ive
leve ls in space 11me. We ca n have relative heave n or hell and it is depend ent on ego or lack of. We human s have
the capac i1 y to create miracle s. But fir st we mu st find our center ... God ... one 1hough1. The co nce pt or fre e peop le
and fr ee ent erprise is a pa radox . a ca tch-22 situati on, 1hat has been th e cause of acti on by the Morteal in both th e
pasl and th e prese nt. Money co nt rols us, wherea s it is ... we 10gcthcr ... who mu st co ntru l money and our relat ive
ignora nce as well . Ou r relative wi sdom mu st be give n freed om. Ca pirnli sm and plut oc racy co ntrol us. We need 10
co nt ro l cap it ali sm and plutocracy beyo nd our sill y egos and unthinking greed. Wants are a bottoml ess pi1. needs arc
more amenab le. My inteni in tryin g to co mmuni ca te , is simp ly an aucmpt to go beyond ego. bo th mine and you rs.
Ego barr iers can be quit e detrime nt al at tim es 10 the se lf, th e se lf 1ha1 we are. Wh en one lowers the ir ego ... thought s,
emoti ons, evas ions and manipulati ons ca n be obse rved and objec 1ificd more eas il y. All of us shuuld tr:,· ii. I would
like to pre sen t ... I don't kn ow whethe r yo u would ca ll it a th eory, a hypo lhe sis I gues s ... but loo k at me fir st as a
human bei ng who feels empath y and co mp ass ion for all of you, bu t then abs tr act ly sec me as a an emperor, sec me
as yo ur e mperor. All ow me to prese nt a min imal num be r of ideas, relati ve ly new id eas, to all of you and all of you,
at one time, ju st vo te yes or no on th ose few ideas th at I wo uld prese nl. Th en the ones that you vo te yes
on ... imp lcmcnt those ideas. II wo uld be a matter of comi ng from a cent er ... our cc ntcr ... as Amer ica ... as individua ls
in Ameri ca. I rea ll y don'1 ha ve any ego. I ma y so und li ke I have an ego. but I don't. I'm j ust tr yin g 10
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Englewood City Council
June 7, 2004
Page 17
communicate with all of yo u. I mea n look at our li ves . Look at how abs urd, at times, our lives reall y arc. Total
absurdity. If we came up wi th just a few brand new ideas and then just vote ... yes o r no ... o n th e few ideas. That
would give you power. ll would not give me power. My ego would not e nter into the si tuati o n at all . It wo uld be
you individua ll y who wo uld acquire .__li e power, beyond greed and beyond hypocrisy. beyond a lot of th e neg ativ e
th at we ha ve in thi s cou ntr y. I hope that a ll of yo u th ink about what I present to night. There was applause.
8. Communications.. Proclamations and Appointments
(a) A letter from Deborah Howard indicating her resig natio n from the Englewood Cultura l Arts
Commission was considered .
COUNCIL MEMBER WOLOSYN MOVED, AND IT WAS SECONDED, TO ACCEPT THE
RES IGNATION OF DEBORAH HOWARD FROM THE ENGLEWOOD CULTURAL ARTS
COMMISSION.
Mayor Garren asked i" th ere were any comments or questions . There were none .
Voteresu.:-.s:
Motion carried .
Ayes: Co uncil Members Barrentine, Moore, Brnds ha w, Garrett, Wolosyn,
Yurchick, Tomasso
Nay!'· None
9. Puhllc Hearing
• No public h1..:aring was sched uled before Council .
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10. Conse nt Agenda
MAYOR GARRETf REMOVED ITEM 10 (c) (I) FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA .
COUNCIL MEMBER BRADSHAW MOVED, AND IT WAS SECONDED, TO APPROVE CONSENT
AGENDA ITEMS 10 (a) (I) AND 10 (b) (I).
(a) Approval of Ordi nances on First Reading
(i) COUNCD.. BILL NO. 32. INTRODUCED BY COU NCIL MEMBER BRADSHAW
A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AUT HORIZING ACCEPTANCE OF A TRANSPORTATION/UTILITY
EASEMENT ALONG SOUTH ELAT I STREET FROM THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATIO N DISTRICT TO
THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD, CO LORADO .
(b) Approval of Ord ina nces on Second Rending
(i) ORD IN ANCE NO. 31. SERIES OF2004 (COUNCIL Bll..L NO . 27, INTRODUCED
BY COUNCIL MEMBER BRADSHAW)
AN ORD INANCE APPROV ING SUPPLEME NT NO. 156 TO THE SOUT HGATE SAN ITATION DISTRICT
CONNECTOR'S AGREEMENT FOR THE INCLUSION OF LAND WITHIN THE DISTR ICT BOUNDARIES.
Vote results :
Ayes:
Nays:
Mot io n c-anicd.
Counc il Members Barrent:nc, Moo re, Bradshaw. Garrett , Wolosyn,
Yurchi ck , Tomas so
None
Englewood City Council
June 71 2004
Page 18
II. Regular Agenda
(a) Approval of Ordinances on Fi rst Reading
(i) Cit y Clerk Elli s presented a rec ommc:.ndallon fr om the Dr:pn.n.menl ofr-i nancc and
Administrative Servi ces, Ci ty Clerk's Office, to adopt a bi ll fo r an ordin ance sub mi.11iflg 10 a vr,tc of the regi st ered
electors of the Cit y of Engl ewood a proposed amcndmcnl 10 Article I, Sec ti on 12. of (he Englewood Home Rule
Charte r penainin g 10 Eleclions. She expl ained lhat thi s was th<> ilem we di soussed 01 S•udy Se us ion last wee k. We
ure trying to correc t an election timing prob lem that was crcalcd when TAB OR was passed . TABO R pru ,·idCJ for
an election on the first Tuesday in November of odd-numberc.C years. Our Chart.:r st.ates that our gc11cral muni cipal
elec ti ons will be held bienniall y in November on the first Tuesday after the first Monday . We have a conflict in
2005 and 2011, whereas th ere is no Monday preceding the first Tuesday and we would end up havi ng to hold our
regular election a week after the County's coordinated election . Ho ld ing an election a wee k later creates a lot of
administrative issues that wo uld make th at very difficult. The Electi on Commissi on reco mmen ds passage of thi s
ordinance , she said.
Mayor Garrett asked if Council had any questi ons for Ms. Elli s. There were none.
COUNC IL MEMBER WOLOSYN MOVED, AND IT WAS SECONDED, TO APPROVE AGENDA IT "M
11 (a) (I) -COUNCIL BILL NO. 29 .
COUNCIL BILL NO . 29, INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER WOLOSYN
A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE SUBMITTING TO A VOTE OF THE REGISTERED ELECTORS OF THE
CITY OF ENGLEWOOD AT THE NEXT SCHEDULED MUNICIPAL ELECTION A FROPOSED
AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I, SECTION 12, OF THE ENGLEWOOD HOME RULE CHARTER.
Vote results:
Motion carried .
Ayes: Council Members Barre nti ne , Moore, Bradshaw, uarrctt, Wolos yn ,
Yurchick, Tomasso
Na ys: None
(ii) Directo r Ross prese nted a recommendation from the Department of Public Works to
adopt a bi ll fo r an ordimmce authori zin g an Intergove rnmental Agreement with the City of Littleton for tt-.; purch ase
of the "Herbcrtson" property for 1he Lit1l e1on/E ngle wood Was te water Treatment Pla nt. He sai d that 35 years ago,
we entered int o a le ase with the Hc:rbcrtson family for about 17 .9 acres of land , where 1hc Bi -Ci 1y Admin istr11tion,
the Engl ewood Service n1er and 1hc Colora do Hum ane Society buildings sil. It was a ve ry favorable lease for those
35 years. but. unfortuna tely, accordi ng 10 the terms of tha t, if we renewed ii at the end of 1hc next 35 year pe ri od,
th ey wo uld ow n all 1he buildings a nd there arc lens of milli ons of dollars of infra struc ture 1herc. Staff reco mmended
and . City Council co ncurred, that, whi le we were in kind of a favorable situ ati on, we shou ld see if we cou ld
ncgo1i ate the purc hase of that property. Time was on our si de , and the person who co n1 ro llcd it was in hi s 50's and
he decided he wou ld li ke 10 ge t a fair amour.I of cash and be ab le 10 use it, instcJd of !urning it ove r to hi s successors
and heirs. So, we made !he deal and we arc now here to finali ze the purchase of th e so uth ern 8.8 ac res of the
property th at is go ing lo be used fo r the Wast ewa ter Administration Treatment activities . If yo u have any questions,
1 wou ld be glad 10 answer 1hem. he said.
Co unci l Member Brads ha w as ked if 1hi s lie s everything up. Direct or Ros s said yes. Ms '"'rn dshaw sai d thi s is th e
final one. Mr. Ross said yes .
COUNCIL MEMB ER BRADSHAW MOV ED, AND IT WAS SECONDED, TO APPROVE AGENDA ITEM
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II (a) (II) -COUN CIL BILL NO, 26. •
er UNC IL BILL NO . 26 , INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER BRADSHAW
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Englewood Cily Co un cil
J uu·e 1: 2004
Pit• 19
A Bl.LL FOR AN ORD INANCE AUTHORIZING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN
THE CffY OF LITT LETON, COLORADO AND TH E CITY OF ENGLE WOOD PERTAI NING TO THE
"SECOND AMEND MENT TO AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITIES OF LITTLETON AND ENGLE WOOD ,
COLO RADO. FOR JOINT WA STE WATER TREATMENT FAC ILI TI ES."
r-.h yor Gar;elt asked if th ere were any quc s1io ns or com me nt s. There were none.
Vole result,;:
Motion c =-··ed.
Ayes:
Nays :
Co uncil Members Barrentine , Moo re, Bradshaw, Garre n. Wolosyn,
Yurchi ck, Toma sso
None
(iii) Director Ross pre sented a recommendation fr om th e Depanmenl or Publi c Works to
aC::Cpt a bi!; for an ord inance submittin g to a vote of the registered elec1ors of th e City of Engle wood a Ball ot
Qu es tion co se ll or transfer property owned by the Englewood Water and Sewer Utilitie s to the Ci ti es of Engle\\'000
and Littl eton for use by the Littl c1on/Englewood Wastewater Treatmenl Plant and the Engle wood Service nter . He
sai d in Jll.l y or 197 3, the cities of Liulcto n and Eng lewood entered int o an agreement to operat e and jointly o wn the
Wastewater Ttc:itment facility . Thi s agrecm era calls fo r the City of Englewood to take the lead in all property
purchase s and th en the City of Littlet on is to reimburse us 50% of all our e~penses the reafter. Well , ponions of the
property that have bee n acqu ired , were acquired with funds used by the Sewer Fund , a.s well as the Wa ter Utility.
Becau ~ of the Charter, we need to have a vote or the peop le in orde r 10 comp lete those transfers . So we are aski ng
yuu to pass t his ord inance. submittin g thi s to a vole.
M:t yor Garren asked if there were any ques ti ons for Mr. Ross. There we re none.
COHICIL MEMBER BRADSHAW MOVED, AND IT WAS SECONDE D, TO APPROVE AGENDA ITEM
11 (1) (Ill) • COUNCIL BILL NO. 30.
COUNC IL BILL NO . JO, INTRODUCE D BY COUNC IL MEMBER BRADSHAW
A BILL FOR AN ORD INANCE SUBM ITT ING TO A VOTE OF THE REGIS TERED ELECTORS OF THE
CITY OF ENG LEWOO D A BALLOT QUESTION AT THE K,XT SCHE Dt:· .E D MUN ICIPAL ELECTION TO
SEL L OR TRANSFER PROPERT Y OWNED BY THE ENGL EWOOD WATE R AN D SE WER UT ILITIES TO
THE CITI ES OF El':GLE WOOD AND LITTLETON FOR USE BY T HE LITTLETO N/ENGLE WOOD Bl -C ITY
WASTE WATER TREAT MENT PLAN T.
Vote results:
Mo1ion ca rr ied.
Ayes : Cou nl' '11 cmbcrs Barrentine . Moore. Brad shaw. Garre t!, Wo losy n,
Yurc h1 c,-. Tom:1sso
N:1ys: None
{b) Approva l of Ord inances on Sccom1 r.eading
(i) Counc il Bill No. 28, an .!rgcnq ord inance nuth orizin g a lempora ry mora 1orium on
sec tio ns of the Englewood Muni cipa l Code pcr1ai1, ~ 10 all owed hours and da ys of opera ti on of Farmers Marke ts in
the City of Englewood was co nsidered .
COUNCIL MEMBER WOLOSYN MOVED, lD IT WA S SECONDED, TO APPROVE AGE NDA ITEM
11 (b) (i) • ORDINANCE NO . 32 , SERI ES Of • 004.
ORD INANCE NO . 32, SER IES OF 2004 (C( l .NCIL BILL NO . 28, INTRODU CED BY CO UN CIL MEMB ER
WOLOSYN )
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Engle woo d Cit y Co undl
June 7, 2004
Pugc 20
AN EME RGENC" OR Dl NANCE ESTAB LI SMJ NG A TE MPO RAR Y SUSPENS ION OR MORATO RI UM OF
TI TLE 16, CHAJ":'E R 5. SECTI ON 5. SU BS ECrI ON (E). NU MB ER (2). PARAGRAPH (c). OF THE
ENG LEWOOD MUN ICIP AL CODE 2000. PERTAINING TO FARMERS MARKETS FOR A PER IOD OF SIX
MON TH S.
Vote res ults :
Ayes : Co un ci l Membe rs Barrc nl inc, Moo re, Bradshaw, Ga rrell. Wolosy n.
Yurchi ck. Tomasso
Nays: No ne
Mo ti on carried.
{c) Reso lut io ns and Motio ns
(i) Director Grygle wicz present ed a rec omm endati on from the Department of Finance and
Admini strati ve Services to adopt a re solution approv in g a Suppleme nt al App ro pri ati on fo r year•end 2003 to co mpl y
wi th Cit y Charter requirements. He sa id th ese are the 2003 endin g suppl ementals. Mai nl y these are ti ming iss ues or
items that occurred during th e year that we re n't part of th e fo rmal bud get process fo r 2003. Th ere is one fo r th e
Ge neral Fund, the Donors Fund , th e Storm Dra inage Fund and the Servi center Fund . I can go through those
indi vidually if yo u wo uld like, he said.
Mayor Garrett as ked if Co uncil had an y questi ons fo r Mr . Gryglewi cz. Th ere we re none.
COUNC IL MEMBE R BRADSHAW MOVED, AND IT WAS SECONDED, TO APPROVE AGENDA ITEM
11 (c) (I) • RES OLUTION NO. 52, SERIES OF 2004 .
RESOLUT ION NO. 52, SERIES OF 2004 .
A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE 2003 YEAR END SUPPLEMENT AL APPROPRIATIONS TO COMPLY
WITH CITY CHARTER RE QUIREM ENTS .
Vote res ults :
Motio n ca rried.
Ayes: Co un ci l Membe rs Barre nt ine , Moore, Bradshaw, Ga rre tt , Wolosy n,
Yurchic k. To masso
Nays : No ne
(ii ) Direc lor Gryg lewicz prese nte d a reco mme nd ati on from th e Dcp artmenl of Fi nance and
Admi nistrat ive Se rvices to approve , by mmio n, 1he use of th c "Mod ifi ed App roac h" as defi ned by Govc rnm e nl
Acco unting Sta ndard s n oard (GAS B) Stateme nt Number 34. He sai d !hi s is req uired by GASS 34, fo r Co unci l to
forma ll y, by moli on, approve th e use of the mod ifie d meth od und er GASB 34.
Mayo r Garren asked if there we re nny qucs 1ions for Mr . Gry!;lewicz . Th ere were none .
COUN CIL MEMBER WOLOSYN MOVED, AND IT WAS SEC OND ED, TO APPROV E THE US E OF
THE "MO DIFIED APPROA CH" AS DEFINED RY GOV ER NM EN T ACC OUNT ING STANDARD S
BOARD (G ASB) STATEM ENT NU MB ER 34.
Vote res ul ts :
Motion ca rried.
Ayes: Co uncil Members Barren ti ne, Moou:, Brad shaw. Gar rell , Wo losy n,
Yurchi ck, Tnmnsso
Nays: None
(iii) Direc1 or Gryg lewi cz prcsc nte(; a rccom menda 1ion fro m 1he Departme nt of Fina nce and
Ad min istrative Services h.> approve, by motion, a do na1ion of .$1,000 IO th e Tina Esparza Memorial Fund. The fun d
hns bee n se t up in th e Eng lewood Credi t Unio n. I le cxpl inctl tha l we had a nu mbe r of dcp11 rtm c n1 s th al wan lcd to
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Englewood City Co uncil
June 7, 2004
Page 21
donale , but as Co un ci l norma ll y doc s 1ha1 by mo1ion or as part of their bud ge t, we th ought ii appropriate that it come
th ro ugh Co uncil on be half of all the dep artment s and the Cou nci l.
Mayor Ga rren asked if th ere we re any que sti ons for Mr. Gryg lewicz.
Co uncil Member Yurchick said will 1h is come out of our fund we set aside or 1s thi s so met hin g in ndd iti on to th at?
Direc tor Gryg lewicz sai d th is will co me out of the Continge ncy Funds ... th ey are alre ady bud geted .
COUNC IL MEMBER WOLOSVN MOVED, AND IT WAS SECONDED, TO APPROVE A DONATION
OF $1,000 TO THE TINA ESPA RZA MEMORIAL FUN D.
Vote res ults:
Motion carri ed .
Ayes: Counci l Members Barrenti ne, Moo re , Bradsha w, Garrett, Wolosyn,
Yurc hick, Tomasso
Nays: No ne
12 . General Discussion
(a) Mayor"s Cho ice
Ma yo r Garrett did not have any matters to bring before Council.
(b) Co uncil Members " Choice
(i) Counc il Member Barrentine :
I. She said I went to thank Lieutenant Collins for address in g several com plain .s that I got about noise
revolvi ng around th e marc hing band activitie s nt 1he High Sch oo l. Eve rybody was very happy with hi s commc nlS
a nd , app arentl y, he did a very good job because the y didn 't feel the need to co me toni ght They were very
complimentary of him and hope full y we ca n addre ss thi s next year so th at it does n't go quite so late at night.
2. She sa id !h ank s to Jerrell Bl ack and hi s staff fo r a very success ful publi c opening of Pirates Cove.
(ii) Counci l Member Moore sa id I j ust ha,•c a ge neral comme nt. I do n't know how we ended
up so deep in thi s iss ue tonight. The wh ole dog par k iss ue has been defe rred to be handl ed in a more logica l,
thoughtful process. The di sc ussio n to ni ght should have been just to dra w up a proc ess ... do we need to act quic kl y
or not? It is fru strating th at we arc back to debatin g all of th e fundamen ta l iss ues of the dog park when we ha ve
already, as a Cou nci l, rea lized that we have ded icated so mu ch time to th at and th at we need to move on and all ow it
to work thro ugh different channe ls. I am not sure how we can co ntrol it. I am nol sure wh at s1eps need to be take n
or what we need to foc us on. Do we need to ac l in an expedient ma nn er bec au se of the dro ught or no1? But fo r the
rest of it, !his is not the proc ess we agre ed to deal with . It is takin g up a 101 of time tha t thi s Coun ci l need s to be
spe ndi ng on other matters. So I just wanted 10 e r.press th at opini on. I wo uld like 10 se c it somehow handl ed in a
more s1ructu rcd manner th an we appea r to be heading toward s ... again , Than k )'O U. He said I ha ve one ques ti on. If
we are not vo ting next time wit h res pec t 10 th e dro ugh t .. .! kno w I :J on't need to sec the iss ue put on the agc nd n. so I
don't kn ow if we would at leas t wan t 10 revi sit whet her or no t we wam 10 put thi s on the age nd a ne xt wee k. I am no1
hearing the Parks Dep an mcnt rec ommending 1ha1 we take action right now beca use of th e drought i~.;ue . And if
they arc not recom mendin g it , th en I don't know why we wo ul d need to be lalkin g abou t it at th e nex t Stud y Se ss ion.
So I'll at leas t th row that out ... 1hat th ere is a majori ty th at wo uld rat her j us t not sec it vo ted on.
Co unci l Member Yurchick sa id I th ought we had agreed th at it was n't the drought, but !h at it wa s the wear ar.d tear
and th at water and the dro ugh t was a se para te iss ue ... fr om talking 10 Dave.
Cm1;1ci l Membe r Moo re sa id th at is why I fee l we don't need to vo te on it. ReOectin g more on D,ne's com ments.
the Pa rks Depar1m cnt is not pushin g fo r an imm ediate so lu1i on. Ir 1hey aren't pushin g for an imm ediate so lu li OO,
then let 's le t thi s 1hin g play out th e way we ha ve alread y Jccid ed that it wo uld . Th al is my opini on, he said .
Englewood Cily Counci l
June 7, 200-I
Page 22
Co uncil Member Barre nt ine said bu1 th e Parks and Recrea1io n Board. made up of citi ze ns and neighbo rs or th is
communit y. arc making th at rcc ommcnda 1ion and Dav e did have so me sup po rting iss ues that he bro ught up and ii
made me think we ough1 to address ii.
Cou nci l Member Moore said when yo u fir st joined Co un cil . o ne of 1hc very va lu ab le thi ngs 1hat I th ink yo u did, if I
recall correc tl y. was tr yi ng 10 make sure we foc used on the is sues, And . th at is what I wou ld just suggest. Yes, the
Commission raised th e iss ue. but it is 100 big of an issue to try to get ii do ne thi s qui ckly nnd in thi s mann er. l have
sai d en ough.
Co uncil Member Barrentine sai d we did as k for some acldi1i onnl in format io n c1 nd we had o ne of our Boards make a
rccommcndn1ion , I just thi nk we should fo ll ow through and al least hear the adri:ti onal info rmati on from them .
Co uncil Member Moo re sa id I think we just have a lot of peop le stirred up.
Coun cil Member Wolosyn sa id I would like to po int out thal th e Committee that we did appoi nt 10 deal with pan of
thi s issu e as ked us 10 pos tpone. not 10 disre ga rd , 1ha1 recommenda ti on. I think 1ha1 postpo ning is co nsis tent and not
di srespectful.
But , Council Member Brad shaw sa id , I thin k the Ta sk Force has mudd ed their waters. They asked for direc 1ion a
month ago. as 1hey didn 't know what 1hey were reall y supposed 10 be doing . My concern is th at if it is an issue, I
wo uld like staff 10 say .. .i t is a drought iss ue ., .and tell JS i:mt , instead of the illusion 1ha1 ii is .
Mayor Garrett sa id my co nce m ... and I go to John 's point. .. is that we did thi s very qu ic kl y last fa ll . Okay things
•
happened and turn ed on a dime . If I was a person who enjo yed off-leash pri vileges . and I'm not, but I would be •
very sk..in is h of what 1his Council co uld do. And I would show up al every meeting , al eve ry opponunily and talk all
day long . I think th a1 is the conditioning that we se t for ourselves la st year. Now, we can talk about the drought , but
yc u say, we a.re go ing to suspe nd yo ur priv ileges. Well we shut Bates Log an dow11 in o ne meet ing. without them
rea ll y know ing lhal we were abou t 10 do th at. So , I would be here if I were them, The other iss ue I hav e is with 1hc
Co mmissio n. They di d not .1sk fo r ..: --ec ommcndati on. or eve n input , fr om the Department before that happen ed .
They had a f1,,. w ci tize ns show up . make so me co mme nt s and the perso n tha t talked abo ut 1he co nditi on of 1hc park
was ac tu all y one of the members who vo led agai nst th e reso luti on. That is one re ason why I th ink we should have
more inp ut a nd more delay. When we had lh c Study Se ss ion th ough. there were four people on Co un cil who would
lik e 10 put it on the agenda . Thal is the will of the fo ur. To me th nt is en ough and we should pu t it on !h e agenda
and '1alk abo ut it .
Co un cil Member Moore said abso lutel y. I was just c uri ous if any of thos e fou r had chan ged their mind s during the
ni ght. Co uncil Member Yurchid said convi nce me.
Co unci l Membe r Barre ntine sai d speaking fo r my sel f. I am s1ill goi ng to stick wi th wa nting to have th e infor mat ion.
We have ste wards hip ove r thi s asse l for th e Ci1y and if there is a conce rn or prob lem , I wa nt 10 know what 1he issues
arc . And to ad dres s what yo u sa id ... it wa s alway s goi ng to happen . What ha ppe ned las 1 tim c .. .Jason wa s always
goi ng to be on th e !ab le th i!o sprin g. I think everybody knew th at And the oth er side will be here nC:\l time and they
will go back and for th aga in , until a firm d:dsion is made one way or a1other , Unle ss. there are no more
prob lems ... unle ss !h ere is no more od or and there is no more cont enti on and th ere is no more ye llin g between th e
gro ups. Thal is why 1he le as h iss ue happened in th e fi rst pl ac e. The City di dn't have a leas h law and there were
co ncerns and prob lems . We don't tr y lo be pro active in thos e ways, we tr y to addres s the co nce rns tha t the peo pl e
arc br in ging here . I am sorry . I knew whe n I go t on thi s Council lha l th is was no! going to go aw:1 y. I wis h that it
had and that Ja so n Park was n·1 an iss ue . Pe ople predic ted th nt it '-''O Uld wh en Ba1es Logan cl osed. Bui . it is not
so mething th al is going 10 go away and as mu ch as I wou ld hkc to stic k my hea d in th e sa nd. it is 00 1 going 10 help
anyt hin g. So, I be li ev e 1hat th e oth er si de and other opi ni ons will be expre ssed at our nex t meeti ng as we ll .
Co un cil Me mber Moo re sa id IO yo ur poin t Dm,g. we se t ourselve s up fo r ii las t fall . We had di sc uss ion s about 1h a1.
we realized the effec t that it had . Th ere s1il1 migh t be certain thi ngs that we co uld do to reass ure th e public of what
our proc ess is going 10 be on this mauc r. If we arc di • •g back int o thi s. the n let's deci de a nd lei's do ii and let's 111 •
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Englewood Ci ty Council
June 7, 2004
Page 23
lea st ta lk abo ut how we are going 10 do ii, 10 mak e ii effecti ve. 1 don'i want the battle to bc ... sc c wh o can run th e
longest filibus1er on 1he to pic . If we are goi ng lo do it , if we are diving into thi s. then lei's do it ri ght
Council Member Wolos yn said that is wh at I tried to say at Co un cil tonight and 1hcrc are other foct s Lh at we have
never rea ll y loo ked al. .. other po ss ib le soluti ons. It is a big picture and tha t is how I fee l it should be loo ked al.
Sayin g th e parks should be closed 10 dogs because o f drou .~ht, is th e same as th e decisio n to not have athl e tics fr om
other muni ci palities du ri ng the drought It i· no t dea ling "ilh the dog is sue. If it is going to be perceived as dealing
wi th the dog issue. I wo uld like to deal wi t'.. 11 up front and I th ink that rake s more than a co uple of weeks .
Co un cil Membe r Tomasso said the sa me thing happened at 1he beginning of soccer season. The parks we re cl osed
fo r pre-practices to pre ve nt damage to the parks . The last time I was in Jason Park was mid-May al 1he end of
socce r season and the gro und looked rea ll y stres sed at that poi nt. It is ge tt ing halter. It was rea ll y hot today . My
grass , no matter how much water I put on it, looks stre ssed and nobody wa lks on it. So I nm thinkin g thi s is not a
dog issue , it is a stress issue, it is the drough t issue and 1ha1 wa s a recommenduion that came fr om the Board .
Mayur Garrett sa id if we banned athletics, that is the sa me as banning off-leas h privileges . If yo u are goi ng to limit
off-leas h privil eges, when we limit at hleti c ac ti vity. th at is a diffe rent so luti on. Which mea ns yo u say that on these
days. we will have an off-leash program and on these days we will not have an off-l eash program . That is a
limitation as opposed to a ban . I think that is what I am heari ng a lot of ... don't ban us.
Or, Cou nci l Member Tomasso said , we limit the num ber of parents th rtt can go to T-ball . You arc onl y allowed two
parents to keep down the wear and tear on the grass . rt is eith er that or we put more water into the park .
Co uncil Member Bradsht1w said water is not going to solve it. Thi s is a chance for thi s Co uncil to fir.11l1 y se t
guidelines tha1 everyone knows about. Ms . Wolosyn sa id about what ... about th e drought? Ms. Bradshaw sai d
abo ut whether we arc goi ng to allow off-leas h after dark . whether we nrc going to do odd/even days . There ha ve
bee n a lot of good ideas pre se nted toni ght. What about off-leas h at ni ght and before 9 a.m. There arc a lot of
different ways you can do thi s.
Council Member Wolos yn said then that is different th an vo tin g on th e recommenda ti on from Parks and Recreation .
Coun ci l Member Brads haw said the informati on that Park s and Recreat io n had at th a1 ti me, and one of the people
who voted .1ga ins1 ii. even agreed th at th is pa rk was stres sed.
Coun ci l Member Barrenti ne sai d I didn't hear anybody on Council say they wa n1 ed to vote or not vo te on the
drough t issue . 1 think we asked fo r some additi onal info rm ati on. My sic wards hip of our assets of this City come
fir st and if I've got pe ople who, in their professional opinio n, be lieve that we need to do somet hin g for th at park to
preserve our assets, th en I would li ke 10 hear th at informa1i on. That is all : have asked fo r. I neve r sa id what I
wanted to do wit h th e dog park . I gue ss the fa ct that it is being referred h. ·c; a dog park has already led us into
where we are headed . But th at is sepa rat e fr om what wa s brought up tonig . vith our recommendati on frnm the
Parks and Recreati on Commi ss ion and the co mments tha t were made by the ,,taff. That is a sepa rate iss ue . h will
happen anywa y, but it is a se para1e is sue fo r me.
So. Cou ncil Member Wolosyn said , when we vote next week it wi ll be couch ed in term s ... bccau se of droug ht.
Ma yor Ga rren sai d no. it is goin g to be couched in terms of. do we want 10 suspend pri vil eges . We have a
reco mmenda tion, we wi ll receive inform11ti on and each Council member wi ll make their own deci sion.
Council Membe r Wol osy n said wasn't the recommenda tion fr om Parks and Recreati on about th e drou ght '!
Council Membe r Barrentine sa id 1 didn't even know that we sai d we would vote. I th ough t that th e iss ue would be
brought ba ck and you asked for it not to be vo ted on the fi rs t time it was brought up .
Ma yo r Garrett sai d it will be an agenda it em that peo ple can vote on or not vole on. And the way I loo k 111 it , each
Co un ci l 1;1c mbc r will make their own decision :1s to wh y th ey are v, •in g th e way th ey do . It may be dro ught rel ated
or it ma y be re lated to so methin g else. Th u is a Coun l'i l mem be r cho1, •.
Englewood CUy Co unci l
June 7, 2004
Page 24
Co uncil Member Brad shaw sai d we ha ve a Parks and i1 :crcatio n m:.:cting th is Thursda y. I will ask for ve rific ati on .
Counc il Member Yurchi ck said I don't care if we vote the 2 1 u, bu t I'm j ust tired of messing wi 1h it and I wa n1 it to
co me to a co nclusion one way or the other.
Counc il Me mber Brad sha w sa id it is time for us to say, we wi ll have off•lcash privi lege s in the se parks on odd
numbered da)'S. I mean it is time for us to say ... loo k we tri ed the pilot program wit h eve rythin g ope n. Now we
hne recomme ndations fr om peop le out he re say ing. we wa nt to wo rk wi th yo u. We don·t want to lose the
privi leges and the Task Force is not goi ng to do that.
Co unci l Member Wolosy n sai d maybe so me of us want just one dog park ce ntrally loca ted . Maybe I'm wrong, but I
fee l that if we wa ni 10 dea l with 1hi s iss ue in a fi nal way , it has to be in a larger co ntext Ms. Bradshaw sai d how do
we do tha t? Ms. Wolosyn sai d appare ntl y th ere arc two loca ti ons 1hat th ey consi der viable, so we postpone a
deci sion until we hear what they say abo ut 1hc two loca tions and we sec what Parks and Recrea ti on sa ys . I am not
again st consideri ng so me sort of co mmunity use. But I wo uld probably wa nt fen ces or maybe two or three hours in
the morni ng. It is a big iss ue If it is not going to be di visive, we all have to dec ide ways so th at everyo ne ca n hav e
a little of so mething . I feel th at we have l>cc n in a reactive mode.
Mayor Garrett said we have as ked fo r additio nal informati on dealing with the drought iss ue, whi ch I think is
important. We wi ll put that on the Study Sess ion . When we come to the meeting , any Co uncil member who decides
to mov e so mething fo rward ca n, as we always have lhnt opportunit y during Council Members Choice . Coun cil
Member Moo re sa id we like to give warni ng. but we will just co unt thi s as fa ir warn ing . Mr. Garrett sai d everyone
knows we arc go in g to be talking abou1 thi s next week ... we have an nounced thi s ... but we will focus in on the
drought iss ue and get the infonnation deal ing with that
Council Member Bradshaw said at the Park s and Recrea tio n meeting Thursday night, I will ask for clarificatio n.
(iii) Council Member Tomasso said tomorrow nigh t the Summer Reading pro gram: Cam p
Eng le wood Ac1 ivi ti es will be in L~e CityCc nter Plaza. It is from 6:30 p.m. 10 8:30 p.m., with camp fire song s, hot
dogs, a parade and clown.
(iv) Co un c:I ?\-'.ember Yurchi ck said for so me reaso n the ACE meet ing ha s bee n cance lled th e
la st two month s in a row . I wo ul d like to find out whal is going on. It just said il was cance ll ed thi s week wi th no
reaso n whclher there was quorum or nol or if lhey are havi ng prob lems .
Ci ty Manager Scars sa id I wi ll get ba ck to Counci l and let yo u know .
(v) Council Member Wo losyn sa id Bill Clayto n. who is associa ted with 1hc House of Mope,
called me. The House of Mope rece ived a $50,000.00 gra nl fr om the Dani els Fund to rep lace all th e windows in th e
building a nd also to build a handi capped accessib le bath roo m on th e main fl oor. As work has progressed , pri ce s
have esca lated and he think s 1hey are go ing to be ou1 of budget an d he ca ll ed and :isked ... and then fo ll owed up wi 1h
a letter, whic h I have giv en 10 th e Ma yo r ... fo r us 10 co nside r waiv in g th e permit fee s fo r th e wi nd ows projec t and
the handica pped acces sible bathroom . I am bri nging it fort h 10 Co un ci l. I don'I have any objec ti on. eve n th ough I
don't hav e a fig ure for th e permit s. I guess I wo uld like 10 h:ivc 1he amount s th at ii wou ld cos t, but on the face of
il...we have a pretty good partnership wi1h thal orga niza tion and I think th ey provi de :i needed service , in a very
rommunit y building manner . If we can help them. I ask my fell ow Co uncil peop le to do so. But 1 think th at.
proba bl y, 10 rea ll y co nsi der thi s, we need the amount of th e pc rmi1 fees .
Ci1y Mana ger Scars sai d I guess I have a questio n abo ut th at. They arc in 1hc proc ess of finali zi ng 1ha1 permit in an
expedit io us fashio n and if we consi der !hi s in two weeks . I don't know if !h at is goi ng 10 be fas t enough.
Co uncil Member Wolosy n sa id Bi ll told me the windows were al re ady in or they arc in the proces s of pulling them
in and he told the co nt rac tor to pay the fees . So. he ma y be loo kin g a1 a reimbu rse ment Co unci l Member llrad shaw
sa id Iha! is different Ms. Wolosy n sa id I do n'1 know if th e co n1ra c1or paid th e fees .
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Englewood City Council
June 7, 2004
Page 25
Mayor Garrett sai d he probably c0'1 ldn 't pull the permit unless he paid th e fee .
Cit., M1ma g:J Scars o:;aid I guci.s the qu es tior, is shou ld we sta y the fee and thc v won't pay ii and we don't requ ire
them to pay it until we meet on the 21 '". Then if. at that meeting, you decide O ey have to pay it, then they arc goi ng
to be obli ga ted to pay it. ls that acceptable to th e Co uncil ?
Counci l Member Wolosyn said th at sounds good . That is rea ll y the only thi ng we can do.
Co uncil Member Bradshaw said Mr . Cl ayt on knows how th e pcnn its wo rk.
Ci ty Manager Sears said we will bring th is back to Council, but we will keep the proj ect moving. Ms . Wolosyn said
thank yo u.
13. City Manager's Report
(a) City Manager Scars said 1 juat want to let C'.ounci l know that Amy Doc-Torres, fr om the City
Manager's office, together with Parks and Recreation and the Departmcnl of Community Devel opment , have put
together a Summer Fun For Everyone di splay advertisement fo r the RTD Southwest Light Rail from June 4th
through Julys•. All three departments worked on this project.
(b) City Manager Scars said 1 received FasTracks CD's and a book from RTD in case anyone is
interested. Th ey didn't say who they were fo r.
14. City Attorney's Report
City Attorney Brotz man did not have any matt ers to bring before Council.
15 . Adjournment
ARREIT MOVED TO A.;JOURN. The meet ing adj ourned al 10: IO p.m.
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