BELLA VISTA -- Several Bella Vista Property Owners Association members attended the recent Joint Advisory Committee on Recreation to ask for a new dog park for the east side of town.
Many residents who live in town houses in the Metfield area have small dogs and don't have a fenced yard, resident Bill Beekman said.
Members discussed Metfield Park and Lake Ann as possible sites for a dog park. Association General Manager Tom Judson said he will do research on both sites and make a recommendation next month. There is money in the proposed 2017 budget for a dog park that would serve the east side.
Beekman said he had spoken with Rick Echols, association fisheries biologist, and they agreed that a section of Metfield Park would make a good dog park. However, sometime after that conversation, a sign appeared in the same area indicating a proposed bike skills park there.
Judson said he looked at sites for a dog park with Mike Taggert, the association's maintenance and construction director. There might be enough room for the bike skills park and a dog park in Metfield Park, he said, but a space near the boat launch at Lake Ann is also under consideration.
The association must consider neighbors, Judson said. The Lake Ann spot is far enough from any homes that noise complaints won't be a problem.
Audience member Colleen Carter said the Lake Ann spot is too far from the town houses.
Many people drive to the dog park at Loch Lomond, board member Pat Laury said. Laury drives there and walks his dog on the trail in front of the park, he said.
Bill Puskas, recreation committee member, reminded the group that the Lake Ann area was considered for a dog park several years ago, but town house residents didn't want it there.
It's 2.3 miles from the town houses to the Lake Ann spot, board member John Nuttall said.
Also, Alex Graziani, Branchwood aquatics and facility manager, told the board that a bocce ball court could be constructed on the old playground at Branchwood for less than $5,000.
The playground at Branchwood will be moved as part of the next phase of the park's renovation.
Judson said money for the bocce ball court is also in the proposed budget.
Laury asked the committee to think about the possibility of opening the Ark-Mo land to primitive camping when the trail system is built in that area. The Ark-Mo land is 367 acres on the border of Arkansas and Missouri that was purchased by the association in 2000 but was never developed.
Metro on 11/24/2016