Group building support for North Liberty dog park

NORTH LIBERTY - A group is working to create an off-leash dog park in town.

Members of North Liberty Residents for a Dog Park are asking people to sign a petition, take a survey and follow the group on Facebook and Twitter.

North Liberty resident Jake Villhauer, a member of the group's steering committee, said the effort first began in 2009 when two residents started researching the feasibility of the project. The idea did not move beyond the research phase, however.

Now, steering committee members are working with the non-profit Johnson County Dog Park Action Committee, or JCDogPac, to raise money that would go toward building and maintaining the park. They also want to work with the city to gain additional financial support to buy the land and to pay for construction and maintenance of the park.

Group members don't yet have a set location in mind but hope to see a six to 10-acre park where dogs can socialize and exercise, Villhauer said. The goal is to have a fenced-in large dog run, a separate fenced-in small dog run, a water feature and a dog paw-washing station, among other amenities.

Villhauer said the group wants to show the city the park has residents' support. The group's Facebook page has more than 800 likes and the new petition, which went live on July 1, has a few hundred signatures.

An online survey asks participants how much they would use the dog park and what they would be willing to pay annually or daily.

North Liberty Mayor Amy Nielsen, a dog owner herself, said she would like to see a park in town.

'After walking around knocking on doors all last summer during my campaign, 95 percent of every door I went to had at least one dog,” Nielsen said. 'When I asked, ‘What would you like to see in North Liberty?', the top answer was dog park.”

Villhauer said his black lab, Maddox, and lab German wire-haired mix, Marshall, need the exercise.

'Especially in North Liberty, it's a very family oriented place, having the kind of residential area that we have, a lot of town homes and condos and there's quite a few dogs in the area,” Villhauer said. 'Having an opportunity for dogs to be able to be off-leash is a very different experience and different exercise for them just being able to go out for a walk.”

For more information, visit the group's website.