Neighbors protest Sunridge dog park proposal

There were as many dogs as children playing in South Sunridge Park on a sunny Friday afternoon last week.

Engineering for a dog park being proposed for the location is up for discussion at the Indian Hills General Improvement District Board of Trustees 6 p.m. Wednesday.

According to the agenda, trustees are being asked to approve $9,800 for Lumos & Associates to conduct civil engineering services for the park.

The district has an agreement with Douglas County to provide $50,000 from the residential construction tax raised in the area to help pay for the park.

This is the second time the issue has come before the board.

In February, residents Linda Dement, Kathy Waters and Sharon Buckley protested the park, according to the board minutes.

Buckley lives right next to the park and said that she wasn’t notified that it was a possibility.

After some debate, the district board voted to hold another meeting to allow residents who weren’t at the Feb. 15 session to provide input.

When then-district manager John Lufrano sought the $50,000 grant from the county he told the Douglas County Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee that residents had been notified via the newsletter in their water bills.

District Manager Chris Johnson, who served on the board before taking the reins, said that the discussion of a dog park at the site has been ongoing since 2018.

“It has been on the agenda multiple times about getting a grant for this, it was in the newsletter,” he said. “We can only get the word out so many times to the mass of people.”

There is already a dog park at James Lee Park in Indian Hills and one at Johnson Lane Park.