Summary of the December 1st, 2008 City Council Meeting and Recent Events:
21/12/08 22:36 Filed in: Updates
Thank you to all the ROLO
members who came to City Council on December 1.
We had a sea of people in red with ROLO stickers on;
about 100-150 of our people were in the gallery.
Our ROLO rep gave a great speech which will be posted
shortly on our rolodogs.org website under the
“documents” tab.
The ROLO presentation highlighted the history of Chief Whitecap Park as well as explaining how ROLO was created and how we eventually received Standing on the Master Plan Steering Committee. It brought home the fact that ROLO’s vision plan and inputs at the Steering Committee meetings were left out of the minutes, and that proposed day camps and NO DOG areas were never discussed by stakeholders at general committee meeting, but surprisingly ended up in Stantec’s “Preliminary Concept Plan”. This left us with 25 % of the park as NO DOG and 97 acres earmarked for development, as well as the elimination of the south parking lot on Grasswood Road.
As a response, Council asked ROLO to trust that their City administrators will follow the Master Plan process. They also told us that they have not read the Concept Plan proposal, which was submitted by Stantec so they didn’t want to react until the process was complete. City councillors believe that over the next few months, the committee will re-convene and work towards achieving a consensus. If that is not an achievable goal, then a number of Options may be developed, followed by an Open House for the public, followed by a meeting with Council who would then vote on the best option. We were also told that Council would not support any development, such as www.nkmipdesert.com, which was cited on page 8-54 of the Stantec Report, as ‘a good example’ of what the Whitecap Dakota band would like to see in the park.
Thank you to all members who wrote letters to Council and to all who came to the Council meeting. ROLO also appreciated the many petitions that we received which we handed in to Council. There are more steps to take as we participate in the City’s “Process”, and we will keep you informed as events unfold.
As a result of your letters and our presentation to Council, the Committee Chair has called a meeting of the Master Plan Steering Committee for Jan. 2009 to work at reaching a “compromise in the design that will allow the process to continue…. The Committee will discuss alternatives that all committee members can agree to” All members of the committee are encouraged to “think of ways we can change the design so we can reach a compromise”.
Lastly, we are sorry to say that our chair, Lina Hack, has resigned. We appreciate her efforts and hard work over the past two years to help get ROLO started and growing. Kim Stratemeyer, an original member of the ROLO Steering Committee, has volunteered to take on the role of interim Chair. The Steering Committee is a group of volunteers and we welcome any member who would like to join us. Please call Michele at 343-6559 if you are interested in playing a more active role in ROLO.
Please do not park in front of the gates – this is a good “turn-around” area for cars, and it also leaves the space open in case emergency vehicles need to get in to the park.
Please continue to pick up your dog’s poop. It is especially important to clean up – council members, MVA and other interested parties may visit the park over the next little while and it is important to show visitors that we look after our Park. Enjoy the trails in 2009!
Yours sincerely,
The ROLO Steering Committee
The ROLO presentation highlighted the history of Chief Whitecap Park as well as explaining how ROLO was created and how we eventually received Standing on the Master Plan Steering Committee. It brought home the fact that ROLO’s vision plan and inputs at the Steering Committee meetings were left out of the minutes, and that proposed day camps and NO DOG areas were never discussed by stakeholders at general committee meeting, but surprisingly ended up in Stantec’s “Preliminary Concept Plan”. This left us with 25 % of the park as NO DOG and 97 acres earmarked for development, as well as the elimination of the south parking lot on Grasswood Road.
As a response, Council asked ROLO to trust that their City administrators will follow the Master Plan process. They also told us that they have not read the Concept Plan proposal, which was submitted by Stantec so they didn’t want to react until the process was complete. City councillors believe that over the next few months, the committee will re-convene and work towards achieving a consensus. If that is not an achievable goal, then a number of Options may be developed, followed by an Open House for the public, followed by a meeting with Council who would then vote on the best option. We were also told that Council would not support any development, such as www.nkmipdesert.com, which was cited on page 8-54 of the Stantec Report, as ‘a good example’ of what the Whitecap Dakota band would like to see in the park.
Thank you to all members who wrote letters to Council and to all who came to the Council meeting. ROLO also appreciated the many petitions that we received which we handed in to Council. There are more steps to take as we participate in the City’s “Process”, and we will keep you informed as events unfold.
As a result of your letters and our presentation to Council, the Committee Chair has called a meeting of the Master Plan Steering Committee for Jan. 2009 to work at reaching a “compromise in the design that will allow the process to continue…. The Committee will discuss alternatives that all committee members can agree to” All members of the committee are encouraged to “think of ways we can change the design so we can reach a compromise”.
Lastly, we are sorry to say that our chair, Lina Hack, has resigned. We appreciate her efforts and hard work over the past two years to help get ROLO started and growing. Kim Stratemeyer, an original member of the ROLO Steering Committee, has volunteered to take on the role of interim Chair. The Steering Committee is a group of volunteers and we welcome any member who would like to join us. Please call Michele at 343-6559 if you are interested in playing a more active role in ROLO.
Please do not park in front of the gates – this is a good “turn-around” area for cars, and it also leaves the space open in case emergency vehicles need to get in to the park.
Please continue to pick up your dog’s poop. It is especially important to clean up – council members, MVA and other interested parties may visit the park over the next little while and it is important to show visitors that we look after our Park. Enjoy the trails in 2009!
Yours sincerely,
The ROLO Steering Committee
Important ROLO Membership Meeting to discuss the Chief Whitecap Master Plan
02/11/08 22:05
This guy, like all our dogs needs a place to run. Please plan on attending the meeting at Castle Theatre on Nov. 9th at 7 PM. It is very important that you receive the latest information regarding the CWP Master Plan Preliminary Concept Plan. We are at the point where decisions will be made and we need to ensure our voice is heard. Read More...
ROLO Fundraiser September 28th to October 24th
28/09/08 19:19 Filed in: General
Head over to our site rolodogs.wetpaint.com and join the discussion " ROLO Fundraiser" to place a bid on this lovely painting donated by AL Johnson. Add your bid to the discussion thread by selecting "Post Reply" on the right hand side. Scroll down to the bottom of the thread to find the most current bid. If you are not already a member you will be prompted to "Join this wiki". Your other option is to send e-mail to us by clicking "CONTACT US" at the very bottom of this page.
The silent auction ends October 24th. Thank you Read More...
StarPhoenix Article of Note
19/09/08 01:27 Filed in: News
Check out a recent StarPhoenix article of note.
• City shows well, but needs work
By Gerry Klein
Published: Thursday, September 11, 2008
Read More...
New Documents
19/09/08 01:15 Filed in: Documents
Check out a couple of documents just added to our Documents Tab. The first one is a response to the report: “Risk Assessment of a Proposed Off-Leash Dog Park at Chief Whitecap Park”. The second is in response to concerns that have been raised that the use of Chief Whitecap park by dogs off-leash has resulted in declines in birds using this site. Thank you to David Fox and Dr. Keith Hobson for allowing us to publish these documents on the ROLO website.
Read More...
Get Caught Holding the Bag
15/09/08 22:13 Filed in: General
SPCA Fall and Winter Events
15/09/08 21:55 Filed in: SPCA
Coming up this Fall
• 2009 CALENDAR PET PHOTO CONTEST
• 3rd Annual Cyr Memorial Park Celebration
• SPCA book sale
• SPCA Christmas Store Volunteers needed Read More...
Update #17 - August 12, 2008
28/08/08 22:15 Filed in: Updates
August 12, 2008
ROLO Update
TOPICS IN THIS EMAIL:
(1) Blog with ROLO on our new WIKI
(2) Important: MVA personnel at Chief Whitecap Park
(3) Masterplan Meetings for Chief Whitecap Park Update
(4) You can help us!
Read More...
Participate in Rolo by sharing your thoughts, stories, experiences
01/07/08 00:59 Filed in: General
Rolo has setup an additional site on the internet where you can share your ideas, concerns, stories, experiences, add dog photos, etc... about Chief Whitecap park. Rolodogs.wetpaint.com is our new social networking site that targets off-leash dog walkers who want to collaborate online. Check out the Discussion Forum and share your view point. Wetpaint is free of charge and supported by contextual advertising.
Update #16 - June 10, 2008
01/07/08 00:47 Filed in: Updates
June 10, 2008
UPDATE FROM ROLO
Recreational Off-Leash Organization
Topics in this email:
1) Meet the ROLO Steering Committee Sunday June 15th
2) Details from the last Master plan steering committee for Chief Whitecap Park
3) Upcoming meetings from animal services with the city of Saskatoon
Read More...