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Blue Earth voices are heard, two dog parks created

By Staff | Jun 24, 2018

Blue Earth City Administrator Tim Ibisch stands next to one of two new dog parks in the city limits. This park is located at Second and Walnut Street intersection.

Two weeks ago or so, the city of Blue Earth did not have a dog park.

Now they have two of them.

The two parks seemed to appear almost overnight. One is located on a lot owned by the Housing and Redevelopment Authority HRA) of the city, to the east of the tennis courts on 14th Street.

The other, larger park is at the intersection of Walnut and Second streets, a block west of Highway 169, and is on city-owned property.

“People have been asking the city to develop a dog park for some time now,” city administrator Tim Ibisch says. “And it was EDA (Economic Development Authority) board member Ann Hanna who stressed it should become a priority.”

The City Council agreed, Ibisch says, and asked the city staff to look into creating a dog park.

“We determined these were two city-owned properties we could use, and Public Works supervisor Jamie Holland was able to find a deal on the chain-link fencing.”

Ibisch says the city crew put up the fences and added signs and cleanup stations at the two sites and they were ready to be used. Both have already been well received and are being used, he added.

The smaller 14th Street dog park may not be permanent. The HRA could someday use the lot for a housing project. But for now, Ibisch says it made sense to put the lot to some kind of use.

“We decided to have our new community garden area there, and now use some of the space as a small dog park,” he explains. “It is something the citizens wanted, and it just is another amenity we can provide for the residents of Blue Earth.”