Drs. Foster and Smith would pay $15,000 for naming rights

BY KEVIN BONESKE

REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER

An agreement drafted on behalf of the effort to establish a dog park in Rhinelander at Shepard Park was briefly discussed at Monday’s city Parks, Buildings and Committee agenda.

The City Council at its June 12 meeting authorized a dog park to be located there at no additional cost to the city with the project pending an agreement being finalized between Petco – doing business as Drs. Foster and Smith, which has pledged support for a dog park to be constructed in Rhinelander – and the city.

Interim city administrator Keith Kost said he spoke with an associate general counsel for Petco and received the proposed agreement the afternoon of the committee meeting.

“Quickly glancing at it, I did not have a real problem with this,” Kost said. “I think the motion that was passed at (the City Council meeting) was pending legal review.”

Before the agreement could be finalized, Kost said it would have to be reviewed by city attorney Carrie Miljevich, while the non-stock corporation being set up for the project, Shepard Dog Park Group, would have to be registered with the state of Wisconsin.

“We’re ready to roll,” said Tina Werres, who has been involved for about 10 years in the effort to build a dog park in the Rhinelander area and also noted she has submitted the paperwork to the state for establishing the non-stock corporation, which would be one of the three parties to sign the agreement along with Petco and the city.

The dog park plans initially involve putting up two fenced areas in Shepard Park near Boyce Drive to separate the large and small dogs allowed in those areas without a leash. Werres noted about $12,000 raised for the project was placed into an account prior to Petco (Drs. Foster and Smith) pledging its support.

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, the company would make a one-time donation of $15,000 in exchange for naming rights of the dog park for the duration of its existence with the dog park being known as the “Drs. Foster and Smith Dog Park,” for which the hours would be the same as the posted hours in the other city parks.

The agreement as drafted also calls for the city to maintain the portion of Shepard Park used as a dog park “in the same manner as they maintain any other parks (mowing, trash pickup, plowing and general husbandry of the trees and other vegetation located within the fenced-in dog park, etc.)”

It would be the responsibility of the Shepard Dog Park Group to “pay 100 percent of the expenses for the fencing, benches, signage, any water fountains or other type of water service, except the city will maintain the current water line located in the park,” according to the proposed agreement.

A price quote from American Fence Company that Werres provided to the city places the cost of installing a black chain-link fencing five feet high around the two areas for dogs near Boyce Drive at $18,625.

Other provisions in the drafted agreement include the city not being liable for any expenses dealing with the dog park except as outlined for general maintenance, while the Shepard Dog Park Group would be responsible for 100 percent of the expenses maintaining a dog park in Shepard Park. In the event the Shepard Dog Park Group would not pay 100 percent of the dog park expenses, the city would have a unilateral right to close the dog park.