Hey everyone,
The TIF amendment that has a line item for funding a parking lot for the dogpark got out of the Planning and Zoning Commission's meeting with a recommendation to approve, and was passed by the City Council Thursday. See the article below for details. Although it doesn't mention our item, we are included on the list. With $13 million to work with, plus the fact that we submitted a letter in support to help the effort (letter is posted in the articles section), and had five people show up at the meeting to show support, we should be in good shape.

Hey everybody, sorry this is so late going out. Here is the stuff we talked about in the meeting. I went ahead and pasted the agenda (minus some common knowledge stuff) below and added the other stuff we talked about in bold.

THANK YOU to all who attended, and especially JULIE WEEKS and BOULEVARD for the great meeting space and beer!

2. What we plan to be:
501(c)3- work proceeding, will cost $300 (one time cost)
voice for the dog park and dogs in general
improve the dogpark through material improvements
work with the larger PVP dogpark community to address issues

3. What we accomplished in 2006:
Two large fundraisers held- appx. $1200 raised
Bought toys and got a toybox
Bought and planted trees
appx. $500 in bank for in the park fountain

4. Tentative plans for 2007:
Have at least three large fundraisers
Have a fundraising/informational table at the park many good weather weekend days
At least triple what we raised in 2006- try for $5000
Complete fundraising for in-park fountain- make PIAC request for water line for fountain
Complete tree plantings per Parks & Rec plan
New toy box and toys in Spring
If park expansion comes through PIAC, consider planting rain garden in compacted soil area where parking has occurred
Improve signage- poop pickup, keeping one gate closed at all times (per a recent email, I think it may make sense to add 'leash your dog from your car' to gate sign, new 'get involved recommendations' sign; keep bulletin board tidy (I will try to get some proposed verbiage together on these signs in the next couple of weeks and see what feedback everyone has. We can do laminated 8.5" x 11" sheets now and think about replacing those with permanent (metal) signs later)
Assist in K9 Club cleanups and have several 'detailed' cleanups (picking up rocks, cigarette butts, toy pieces)
Work independently and with Parks and Rec to improve grass / mud problems. (Having a consistent contact with Parks and Rec has been a problem. We are going to get a single DIG contact and a single Parks and Rec contact to see if we can get clearer information on things like poop bag refills, grass planting plans, etc. Suzanne Niemeyer volunteered to take on this role for now on our end- Millie is going to get her a contact on the Parks and Rec side.)
5. Treasurers report- Bob (I will put a copy of this out on the site)

6. Open Discussion

Coming down hard on misbehaving owners: I got a proxy question/request to investigate how we control bad behavior at the

Sent the following to the list 2/2:

Hey everybody,
I have a TON of news to share, so I am going to split it into four emails (hey, don't cringe... :) ), in an attempt to not overwhelm everyone with one monster email. I will do this one, one on some really great news out of the most recent Friends of Penn Valley Park meeting Kathleen McCarther and I attended, a plea for Waldo Brookside DP help, and a final one with much delayed minutes from our annual meeting this last Monday, which resulted in some great plans for this upcoming year.

Attack follow-up: As you probably heard,

Sent to the email list 2/2:

Hey all,
This Wednesday board member Kathleen McCarther and I attended a Friends of Penn Valley meeting, and heard some great news, as well as some frustration, from Parks and Recreation. First, Parks and Rec is strongly committed to getting both the park expanded and getting a parking lot in place this year as soon as possible. They were talking about getting work started as soon as Spring, if funding is available.

However, we need

Sent this to the list tonight-

Hey everyone,
The annual meeting is tomorrow, January 29th, 6:30 PM at the Muelbach Suite (third floor in the new addition) at Boulevard Brewery, 2501 Southwest Boulevard. There will be signs in the new building directing you where to go. Click here for a link to directions to the brewery. We will review what DIG has accomplished in it's first year, our plans for next year, and take your input on any matter- what you want the group to do, improve, fundraising ideas- anything. We hope to see you there!

Unfortunately there was a very serious attack at the park

sent the following to the email list tonight...

Hello everyone,
The DIG annual meeting has been scheduled for Monday, January 29th, at 6:30 PM at the Muelbach Suite (in the new addition) at Boulevard Brewery, 2501 Southwest Boulevard. Click here for a link to directions. This is your chance to meet the Board, officers, and give your feedback on what DIG should work on in 2007! You can let us know of any help you can offer in the new year, including volunteering for a new fundraising committie that is being formed.

The Board of Directors had their first meeting, and elected officers:

Hey everyone,
If didn't notice the article in the Star about the Penn Valley Park aspects of the light rail plan are invalid per the City Charter, and therefore dead. The only way it could be implemented is if the Parks Board approves the plan (which would involve public hearings), the City Council then votes to put it on a ballot, and the voters approve it again. In other words, I wouldn't worry about imminent radical changes to the park resulting from the initiative. The entire article is on diginthepark.com if you want to read it (CLICK ON 'READ MORE' below). Clay didn't do his homework- maybe he should have used a bigger napkin... apologies to any Clay fans out there.

Per Parks and Rec, PIAC funding is being decided on over the next few weeks. So, again,

DIG attended our first Friends of Penn Valley Park meeting, which is the basis of this article. There is considerable concern among Friends of PVP, which is a group that has been advising the Parks Board since 1985 on PVP related matters, about the impact of the Penn Valley parts of Clay Chastain's recently passed light rail ballot initiative. The plan calls for the removal of all roads from Penn Valley Park (except roads defined as 'access' roads- Wyandotte behind the Federal Reserve is considered an 'access' road), including Broadway, and the installation of gondolas (like at a ski resort) crossing the park.

The DIG Board of Directors will likely be seeking member input on what they think of the plan, which we can pass on to the city through our continued attendance of Friends of Penn Valley Park meetings.

If you have an opinion on this plan in relation to PVP and the dogpark, please email your city representatives- council members, mayor, etc. Jim Glover of the City Council attended this meeting and said that such feedback was very important to helping the city decide how to approach the issue.

Questions surround future of park
Chastain provides some answers about light-rail plan’s effects around Penn Valley Park.
By MATT CAMPBELL
The Kansas City Star

A gathering of the Friends of Penn Valley Park this week generated more questions than answers about the light-rail plan approved by Kansas City voters in November.

Nearly two dozen citizens and city officials spent an hour discussing ways in which the vote would affect the park.

Sent the following to the list a few days ago...

Hey everybody,
The Board has been elected! In what was a close vote, the following seven candidates came out as the top seven vote getters:
1. Millie Crossland
2. Stephanie Fuqua
3. Bob Hale
4. Jon Lowe
5. Kathleen McCarther
6. Paul Randall
7. Julie Weeks

The board will be getting together soon to discuss and vote on bylaws

Sent the following to the list a few days ago, sorry for the late posting:

Hey everybody,
Sorry I am a little late getting this out, but you have until December 17th to get your final votes in, so hopefully everybody will have plenty of time to decide on who to vote for. This is probably the most important vote the group will ever have, as the individuals elected will lead the group from here on out- please think about who you think is best and get in your votes. I do think all of our candidates are solid, so we should get a great Board no matter what.

Each DIG member (if you are on the email list, you are a member, in case you were wondering- the only requirement for membership in the group is a willingness to work constructively with others and respect their opinions, and showing enough interest to be asked to be on the email list) can vote for up to seven candidates. Immediately below is a ballot