This morning, I stumbled upon a link to a recent Seattle City Council meeting about the City Light substation project.  www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp I encourage you to have a look, as it does mention the OLA potential.  It starts getting interesting at about 131 on the video's timer.  

I was happy to hear, from the lead landscape architect, that siting a dog park there has a lot of public support.  Thank you all!!  Of course, we can look forward to more public meetings and opportunities to be heard.

I'm counting on you all to show that we deserve a bigger, better off-leash area!

 Wanted to let you know that Seattle Parks will be helping us rehab (the woefully inadequate) Denny Dog Park.  They acknowledge that the surfacing is awful and that it was not properly installed.  Not sure when, though.  Whenever it is, it will require some volunteer labor.  If you're not on the email list (newdogpark@gmail), please sign up so you can stay informed.

The plan for a bigger, better OLA at the old Greyhound Bus site is still in play.  No word yet on when the next public meetings will be held, but I will let you know as soon as I know.  

 Our goal to create a new Off-Leash Area on the Denny Way City Light property remains alive.  I received the following update from City Light:  "There have been to the alternatives no revisions that would preclude an off-leash area.  As we move closer to 30% design (currently scheduled for June 2013), we expect to clarify the open-space opportunities in recommendations to the elected officials. These will be shared in our public outreach processes as we move forward.

We appreciate your dedicated interest in the project.  Please continue to check the Denny Substation website for updates."  The website is http://www.seattle.gov/light/dennysub/

On a recent walk through the Cascade neighborhood, I was amazed to see the number of Mutt Mitt dispensors that had been distributed throughout the REI shopping district, all sponsored by Dave of the wonderful Scraps shop.  I spoke to Dave about it and he told me that he is very happy to donate the dispensors.  He told me that the bags are very inexpensive and were paid for by the businesses in the neighborhood.  Dave expressed a willingness to donate Scraps Mutt Mitt dispensors to anyone willing to pay for the bags (which are very inexpensive).  

Simultaneous with learning about Scraps' generosity, I found myself walking in other parts of SLU and along Denny Way, and being disgusted by the growing number of piles of dog sh*t  left on the sidewalk.  Then it hit me: Encourage SLU dog supporters to take note of the problem poop zones and spread Scraps' goodwill by asking  businesses/condos/apartment managers adjacent to the poop zones if they are willing to receive free Scraps bag dispensors in exchange for purchasing the bags?

Please email me at newdogpark@gmail and share your thoughts.

City Light has announced the first three meetings where the public can provide comments about the Greyhound site substation project.  The scoping meetings mark the beginning of the environmental analysis of the project and provide the public the opportunity to identify environmental issues, substation design alternatives, and transmission line options that should be evaluated in the EIS. Meetings will be held from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. All meetings will be the same and will include an oral comment period from 6-7 p.m.  

As you can see from the picture, this is a big property.  City Light intends to have a "public amenity" on the site.  Dog park supporters, we MUST attend these meetings and speak out for an OLA or we will lose a prime opportunity to create a bigger dog park here!  Please mark your calendars for these meetings, which will include an Open House from 4:30pm-6:00pm and an oral comment period from 6:00pm-7:00pm: 

Please attend one or more of these meetings and show your support.  If you cannot attend in person, please support SLU Dog Park by sending email to SCL_dennysepa@seattle.gov.  Better yet, speak up at a meeting AND send email to City Light.  Your dog will thank you for it!

PLEASE NOTE:  The scoping comment period ends at 4:30 p.m. on November 7, 2012.  More info about the substation project here:   www.seattle.gov/light/dennysub

First, the good news.  Dog-On-It Parks donated this cool faux fire hydrant for our boys to pee on in Denny Dog Park.  Better than peeing on the benches!

Now, the more sobering news. I attended a South Lake Union Community Council meeting where Michael Clark of Seattle City Light discussed where they are at with the Denny substation plan.  The substation construction is on the fast track because SLU/Denny Triangle is already in desperate need of more power.  They plan to energize the substation by the 4th quarter of 2015.  The Environmental Impact Statement will be out in the 1st or 2nd quarter of next year, with substation design documents made public in mid-2013.

From the discussions at the Community Council meeting, it became clear that there is no guarantee that City Light can provide the room we need for a bigger, better, OLA 

Within a month or so, City Light will start doing outreach, soliciting opinions on their website.  I will share the link when its made available so that SLU Dog Park supporters can express their opinion.

It's unanimous.  Although the dogs tolerate it,  us humans are not happy about the big rocks that got mixed into the gravel at SLU Dog Park.  With your help, we can make it better.  Within the next month or so, I will be organizing a work party with the goal of raking the big rocks off to the side, leaving the smaller pebbles.  My informal survey (including OLA users and Patrick of Plymouth Pillars) gives me hope that this will be better for everybody.  Once we have a date, I will share it here.  

I have been brainstorming with Brenda Kramer of Seattle Parks on ways to improve SLU Dog Park on a budget.  I asked for some feedback on the SLU Dog Park FB page and immediately got some from Alysha, Amy and Ellen.  Alysha wanted to see a small dog area.  Unfortunately, this temporary park is not large enough to accomodate a separate area for small or shy dogs.  The future, permanent, SLU Dog Park will definately have that feature.  Amy wanted to see a water bowl inside the OLA.  I agree that this is important.  The challenge here is that Parks did not have the money to bring potable water into the OLA.  In an attempt to improve the situation, I've put a water bowl, and a water container, in the OLA.  Hopefully, this won't be the 4th bowl that disappears. (It was beccause of this problem that a bowl was chained to the drinking fountain.)  Please help by refilling the water bottle at the fountain and bringing it back into the OLA.  Ellen asked that we put a "ball pit" in the OLA.  I'm not exactly sure what that is, but it seems like she's requesting that we put lots of balls in there.  To me, this also is a hint that we need more fun stuff in there for the dogs to play with.  I am going to make this happen...keep your eye on Denny TempOla for the appearance of some fun stuff!  Finally, I wanted to share with you that I have been talking to Brenda of Parks about improving the surface of the OLA.  It was not installed properly...there should have been smaller, packed gravel on the surface rather than big rocks.  In the not-so-distant future, we will hold the 1st Annual SLU Dog Park work party to improve the conditions at SLU Dog Park.  Stay tuned...

Just got some great news from Michael Clark, Program Manager for the Denny Substation Program for Seattle City Light.  Michael writes:  "I am happy to announce that the team of Power Engineers/KPFF/NBBJ have submitted the successful proposal for the Denny Substation Design Services Contract.  We have executed the contract with the team and have initiated our preliminary efforts with them on the Denny Substation Project design effort.  More information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks as we have just recently agreed to scope and are working on the preliminary schedule."

What this means for you, my canine-loving friends, is that we will soon have an opportunity to make our pitch for a bigger, better dog park in greater South Lake Union.  In the near future, a public meeting will be held.  We must pack that meeting room to prevail as The Park that can stake a claim to a portion of that property!

Seattle Parks has taken huge budget cuts.  As a result, there's no money to bring potable water into the dog park for the forseeable future.  We are getting a donated fire hydrant from Dog-on-It Parks (thank you Nora!)  Once that's installed, the boys will have something fun to pee on!

Seattle Parks is doing a great job keeping the Mutt Mitt dispensor filled (thanks again to Scraps for donating bags!)  And the vast majority of Denny Dog Park users are paying attention and picking up.  A reminder that the measures of success of Denny Dog Park includes reduction of the number of off leash dogs who are outside of the off-leash area.  You can help...don't be shy about educating off-leash dog owners that allowing their dogs to be off leash in Denny Park puts our OLA at risk of being shut down.