Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar is providing $10,000 from his district’s discretionary funds to help build an agility course for dogs at a Northeast Los Angeles park.
The course was proposed by the nonprofit Friends of Hermon Dog Park and will be part of the off-leash dog park area of Hermon Park at 5566 Via Marisol.
The nonprofit, which also organizes pet adoptions and spaying and neutering events in the area, will work with city Recreation and Parks officials to install the course and two neighborhood councils to put up signs.
Huizar said he is a “huge supporter of providing more dog space.” The off-leash area at Hermon Park, surrounded by a “very strong and active dog community,” is one of the few dog parks in the Northeast Los Angeles area.
“We wanted to enhance it, support it and make it a lot more fun for our dogs,” Huizar told City News Service, noting that the Hermon Dog Park currently is “a lot of just vacant sand.”
“It’s great that the dogs have a place to run around, but the agility course will provide additional exercise for the dogs, activities for the dogs,” he said. “It creates hoops and ramps and obstacles, and they are able to do more than just, ‘Hey you, a blank open space, go run around.’ ”
The City Council today approved the transfer of the $10,000 to the Recreation and Parks Department.
The money is being taken out of the Central Los Angeles Recycling and Transfer Station (CLARTS) Community Amenities Trust Fund, which receives a portion of the tipping fees from companies that use a nearby recycling center, and can be earmarked for projects benefiting the district’s residents, Huizar said.
Huizar acknowledged there has been “pushback” on such enhancements for dog parks from Recreation and Parks Department officials, who are concerned about funding the maintenance and operation of the dog-oriented amenities.
“Rec and Parks has mentioned that there are few funds to maintain the dog parks, and so therefore it’s hard for them to convert certain areas of parks into dog parks,” he said.
Huizar said he is working to identify other “funding streams that allow for a better use of park space,” adding that city officials are now reviewing how Quimby funds — which are state money set aside especially for parks — could be better used.
— City News Service
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