Also, the company issued a work permit so fencing can be installed over the pipeline. Ground doesn’t need to be broken because this progressive fencing rests on a tripod stand, Rodwell added.
The fencing panels are the same as the ones protecting the riparian zones seen along the highway. “They’ll be starting to take those down in the coming weeks and will be delivering them to the Environmental Services building,” said Rodwell.
There will be more than enough fencing to enclose the area, he said, and this donation positively impacts last year’s $20,000 budget that council allotted for the new off-leash area. Estimated value of the panels is between $25,000 and $35,000.
“We certainly need all the help we can get … I’m glad to hear Kinder Morgan wants to pitch in,” Kerry Wing, chair of the Jasper Dog Owners Group (J-DOG), wrote in an email.
The current off-leash area—nicknamed the “postage stamp”—on the corner of Centennial Park has been used as a temporary location since the Bonhomme Street dog park closed in August 2012. The dog park closed to allow for construction of the joint high school facility.
The fencing donation and the OK to install the fencing over the pipeline shows that “we’ve taken a couple giant leaps forward,” said Rodwell.
There is no set opening date for the new off-leash site.
