Update on Upper Moreland Dog Park Progress

Residents can now start counting down the weeks until Upper Moreland’s first dog park is ready and open to the dog-walking public.

During the March 19 Parks and Recreation Committee meeting, Pat Stasio, township parks and recreation director, said that the final touches are now beginning for the dog park. According to Stasio, last week the grass in the dog park was seeded, and is expected to take six weeks to grow. He also expects that it will be another four weeks until all the signage and trash cans will be in place.

“We’re hoping it will be sometime in mid-May,” Stasio said of the dog park opening, then added, “Not ‘hope,’ it will be.”

In the meantime, Stasio encourages dog walkers to visit with their dogs. Dog walkers are allowed to walk their dogs on a leash in the park and around the dog park fence perimeter, while the dog park gates remain closed.

In related news, and later in the committee's agenda, the committee moved forward for full board consideration an amendment to the current township dog walking ordinence. The amendment would remove naming specific parks that disallow dog presence, and would require parks to clearly post designated areas for dog walking.

At the momement, every township park, except Mill Creek, has signs posted that no dogs are allowed.

"Our current ordinance never dealt with off-leash,'" Ward 2 commissioner and committee chairperson Kevin Spearing said. "And that's the reason why it appears on our agenda."

According to Stasio, the amendment would also make it easier for the township to decide if other parks will be made available for dog walking.

[Updated 10:05 p.m., March 21] According to Stasio, the official grand opening of the dog park may be expected on May 19 or 20.

In preparation, Stasio said that Judy Lamb, representative of , is currently putting together a committee to organize the grand opening.

Paw Prints DOG was the Upper Moreland group of residents to first bring the township’s attention to the need of a dog park.

Also during the committee meeting, Scott Metheny, president of the Upper Moreland Township Police Benevolent Association (PBA), provided an update to the park’s K9 memorial.

According to Metheny, the PBA will donate the stone memorial, dedicated to the township’s police K9 unit, and its fallen members. Metheny said the memorial will be placed outside the dog park, at the entrance of the bridge.

The K9 memorial will also be elevated from the ground with a stonewall around it, Metheny said. This way there will be less of a chance for the memorial to be swept away flooding instances.

“And, we don’t want dogs to visit the memorial before visiting the dog park,” Metheny jokingly said.

 During the committee meeting, Metheny passed around a graphic rendition of the monument (see .pdf above)

While the monument is yet to be installed, its inscription has been finalized and reads:

“The Police Dog’s Oath

I will be sent to find your children, or a fugitive on the run. I will find drugs, weapons or even bombs. I will be the first to go in, and the last to come out. I will lay down my life for you and only ask for compassion and a kind word in return. – Author Unknown

In memory of the fallen K9s of the Upper Moreland Police Department

Dedicated May 2012 by the Upper Moreland Police Benevolent Association”