Hi All!  

We had a very good meeting tonight. Although we were hoping for a few more volunteers to put more “feet on the street”, I think we’ve got some good action plans. PLEASE if you are available to get more surveys signed or seek community support in anyway, please consider attending the next Volunteer Meeting and/or sharing your ideas with the group. PLEASE use the Yahoo Group to post any important messages and links so that this information is publically accessible. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/townofmoreaudogpark/members?o=6  

ALSO PLEASE ADD ANY COMMUNITY SUPPORTERS TO THE DATABASE ON THIS GROUP. (Of course, ask the supporter for permission to do this!)  

Prior to the meeting, we got some more surveys that were sent to the Town Hall from the Water Bill mailing. Most of the input was good!  BUT OUR FOCUS HAS TO BE TO GET MORE OF THE SURVEYS COMPLETED AND RETURNED BY DOG OWNER’S IN THE COMMUNITY. These surveys will show dog owner support in our Town and add more clout to our cause and develop more accurate data for the feasibility report.  

In Attendance: (Thank you!)
Phyllis Miyauchi
Terri Liddle
Cheryl Palma
Shelley Englert
Lyn McKinney
Stacie Dina
Brenda Stark
Michael Ray  

NEXT MEETING: Thursday, December 6^th at 7-9pm. Location TBD, but suggested to be at someone’s house depending on the numbers planning to attend. No need to have it at the Town Hall if we do not get more than 7-10 volunteers. Please RSVP if you are planning to attend!  

GOAL: To identify community awareness projects, goals, timelines and volunteer responsibilities/leadership in support of increasing support of Town dog owners; community awareness in general; providing data for a feasibility report through increased numbers of surveys completed for the creation of a dog park in the Town of Moreau

YAHOO GROUP: Interested parties are encouraged to become a member of this group. This is a public medium for commentary and support of this initiative to be shared with all. Please feel free to add important links and information that you receive to share with the group. We can point media and interested parties to this group to solicit support as soooo many other dog park groups have done.

FORMING A CLUB: In addressing our inability to march in the upcoming TD parade, Brenda suggested that we form a “club”. The purpose of this club would be to represent dog owners in our community. By creating an “entity” (keep it simple!) we will be able to be represented in public events. Suggestion was made to ask for a minimal ($5???) membership fee. The fees would be used in support of our initiatives (a dog park!). We need to get some more concrete ideas about how we can form this club, its benefits and structure. This topic will be discussed in further detail at the next meeting. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR CREATIVE IDEAS FOR A NAME FOR THE CLUB and any other ideas about its formation. At this stage of the game, we do want to keep it simple.

COMMUNITY CAMPAIGNS: Approaching community members in the volunteers respective neighborhoods to have owners complete surveys, solicit support (discuss benefits of a dog park, etc.) and direct for more information to the town website (www.townofmoreau.org); will communicate results via email list; post important connections on the Yahoo Group for public dissemination; Deadline for completion – End of 2007

·        Lyn – Castle, Myron, Terry, Jan streets; area of Town Park entrance off Bluebird; distribute surveys with “Benefits of a Dog Park ” attached

·        Stacie – area around South High and Tanglewood

·        Brenda – random areas off Fortsville

·        Cheryl – Betar Highway ; all dog owners met!

·        Phyllis – will continue posting posters around town such as Stewart’s and other retail establishments

COMMUNITY BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION CAMPAIGNS

·        Mike – Stitches in SGF- discussing creating a banner of support to be displayed;,discuss other potential support opportunities such as creating placards for businesses to be displayed on fencing inside dog park (this is a way to raise money to support the dog park); Waste Management – discussing support/sponsorship of disposal containers

·        Lyn – Will approach Petsmart with her connections; will maintain and develop relationship with Neil’s Pet Salon & PetLogic; has surveys on location; discuss other communication methods such as tagging products to clients

·        Veterinarians/Groomers – decided that we ALL could cover these with no designated persons; those contacted will be communicated to the group via email; encouraged to have discussion with vets for future support for education, etc. POST SUPPORTERS TO THE YAHOO GROUP DATABASE!

·        SPCA/Humane Societies – posters only now until we have a dog park in the works at which time these would be great support entities to support new dog adoptions by providing a place for them to play

WEBSITE

·        Lyn will explore contacts to identify a website hosting DONOR; cost of registering a domain is approximately +/- $50 per year and cost of hosting a website is +/- $25-50 per month

·        Naming convention of URL suggested – www.moreaudogpark.org  or www.townofmoreaudogpark.org (or .com); currently these URL’s are available

·        Cheryl willing to maintain; consider others to have access for updates/support depending on website configuration

RESOURCES

·        LEGAL – Stacie will seek out a supporter who is an attorney; someone to bounce off issues to and potentially creating a 501 (non-profit) WHEN AND IF that is EVER needed

·        ACCOUNTING – Lyn says she has a resource if needed

·        VETERINARIAN – Mike will pursue seeking a veterinarian supporter; potential to provide PR support as well as future education

MEDIA

·        Mike – Will respond to Letter to the Editor that was posted in the Post Star on 10/28; will have committee review prior to posting

·        Stacie – will approach TV8 through personal contacts

·        Cheryl – will maintain press releases; suggestions for media contacts desired

·        Shelley – Pending radio interview on All American Properties radio show with Cheryl

POLITICS

·        Will review results of town election results and perceived impact at next meeting

·        DOG CONTROL OFFICER – Brenda will attempt communication to get his thoughts/ideas/support

·        STEVE GRAHAM – Need to have renewed conversations with him as Director of Parks; goal is to seek his ideas/concerns/support regarding benefits of a dog park re: the community benefits, etc.; need to obtain clear, concise map of the geography of the Town Park for feasibility study

AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING ON 12/6

·        Update on community outreach; review goals; set action items

·        Discuss items needed for feasibility report – approximate cost of fencing and other features, results of other dog parks, timeline for development & proposal

·        Formation of a club – creative name, structure, purpose (keep it simple to get started!)

Please remember to review the Benefits of a Dog Park as you are communicating with the community. People who think that a dog park is a bad thing have valid concerns, but we all recognize that a dog park will benefit dog owners AND non-dog owners alike. Perhaps they don’t know all the facts… It is a good thing for a community. Estimates are that there are about 2000 off-leash areas in parks all over the country. These communities can’t all be wrong!

Okay…let me know if I forgot anything. This will be posted on the Yahoo Groups.

Bon Soir et Merci Beaucoup!

Cheryl F. Palma

Cell: 312-6862

BOCES Sub# 7672

NNY Region Leader, Guiding Eyes for the Blind(GEB)

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