Castanet – Aug 1, 2024 / 3:15 pm | Story: 499728

At the May 13th, 2024 Kelowna city council meeting, council approved a dog run in City Park for $750,000.

It was an interesting process.

City staff presented a list of 10 projects that had council approval. However, Coun. Rick Webber didn’t remember a dog run in City Park ever being brought up. Mayor Tom Dyas asked city manager Doug Gilchrist to address this and he said a dog run is needed downtown.

Coun. Ron Cannan referred to the $750,000 for a dog run and asked why it was such a high cost. Fencing? The answer from staff was it would be a place where people wouldn’t want to leave. That’s it for $750,000?

So, is it really a dog run or something else? And why didn’t the councillors demand more information than “a place people won’t want to leave” before approving it? This strikes me as a flippant approach to spending $750,000.

The mayor and councillors keep telling us they are fiscally responsible with taxpayers’ money. I say not in this case.

The public needs to know what this project really is and whatever it is, what will be the impact on the park and green space?

Susan Ames, Kelowna

https://www.castanet.net/news/Letters/499728/Questions-pricey-dog-run