Mayor made a nice speach at dog park grand opening.

[Sweater Cows!]

He even referred (in a politically tactful) way to the park having opposition(not that word though) and how the Dog park is in line with what the Cartiers would approve as far as public use when they donated the land. Wish I would have wrote it down now and took pics but didn't think to at the time.

[XLFD]

I finally found by accident the original Cartier agreement with the City of Ludington (dated 1910).   I respectfully disagree with the Mayor. 

The contract said that if the City of Ludington ever converted the land to anything other than general 'park use' (without expressed consent of the legal heir of the Cartier estate) the Cartier heir could reclaim the bequeathed land we now know as Cartier Park for their own.  The City donated this land to a private entity, the Dog Park Committee, and allowed it to be used for a more restricted purpose than 'park use'. 

If the Mayor said they 'would' have approved, I 'would' presume that the City never asked, because he 'would' then have used the more definite 'did'.  Thanks for the intelligence, Lando, perhaps I'll FOIA this speech, LOL.

[Sweater Cows!]

Please don't quote me on what he said, I did not take notes and was watching two kids and a dog through the speech. So please just take my statement as a general idea of what he said. I thought you would find it interesting though.

 

So let me re-phrase, he said something "along the lines" of  the park is in line with the original intent of the donation form Cartiers. I am definitely paraphrasing.

[XLFD]

I got the impression you were just paraphrasing the speech, but it does intrigue me a little.  I was halfway thinking about going down to the big event and making a statement myself, but self-preservation kicked in, LOL. 

For the record, yesterday I spent a couple of hours with three totally delightful dogs belonging to a friend's relative.  Some have taken my opposition to the City allowing the Dog Park in Cartier Park without a public vote as me having an agenda against dogs and/or their owners.  Some have taken my outrage over a public officer representing and leading a private agency in negotiations with the City he works for and receiving donations of park land as baseless, and think his actions were not an action without negative ethical implications. 

The picking of Cartier Park parkland without any public discussion before the Council actually voted on it was gutless on the part of all involved.  There are many other areas in and around Ludington that would have been more centrally located, less invasive of our limited forested areas within the city, and more handicap-accessible for this project, but the vast majority of Ludington residents never got the chance to contribute their viewpoints.

[Sweater Cows!]

Ya, I know what your points are and realize you aren't against dogs, just the way the city handled the situation. But it would be easy for someone who doesn't understand your dissapopintment with the way the CoL has handled many things to not realize it isn't about it being a Dog Park but being a *special interest* type issue. As you have stated before, even being an avid cyclist you felt the bike trails violated the same principle as the Dog Park, I think you should point to both as violations of the intent of the Cartier Donation though as that would get a lot more people on your side, or wholly alienate twice as many.

 

You just have to get people to realize it is the way the park was created and not the park itself that you have an issue with, but since initially you didn't include the bike trails it does give the impression that the dogs are the problem.

 

It is a nice shady location, but I would have went for a place with a water source myself. There is no good/easy way to get to Lincoln lake to get the dogs a drink(and if I don't eat/drink something neither do my dogs). So people are left to bring water and a first timer there would have no way of knowing that.

[Willy]

Lando

Those "bike trails" are also walking paths and are also used by joggers so they are available to everyone. The Dog Park on the other hand is for a specific and limited use.

[snide]

All I want to see is people(and their pets) USING the dog park and keeping away from us non-dog folks. For example,NO DOGS in the area just south of the boat launch where the sign NO DOGS is clearly posted. NO DOGS chasing after while I ride my bike --one notorious unchained dog on Park street another on Bryant less than a mile from dog park. Lastly my personal favorite, dog poop on the sidewalk on Ludington Ave., I had to wipe up a pile of it just last week.

[Sweater Cows!]

I'll have to kidnap you and lock you in my house with my four mutts, LOL. You'll change your mind once you realize that without dog hair everywhere and daily poop cleaning expedidtions to the yard life is terrible. I changed DH from a 'cat' person(actually my ol boy kaz did it with his doggy kisses). LOL

[AQUAMAN]

Getting back to the Mayor, it is totally believable that he did say, "in line with what the Cartiers would approve". The last time the CoL violated the Cartiers' intention of the park usage they got a lot of flack and grief, as well they should, and serious threats of reclaiming the property. At present, it would seem more in line to "ask the Cartier representative in advance if any complaints might arise". This would have the implication and legal binding agreement that they should have politely and correctly sought, but again, this was not the case, due in great part imho to the sameo attitude of arrogance and poor assumptions by people impressed with their positions, not really trying to serve the people overall. In any case, there should be a watering trough and doggy poop station, like all other dog parks, added to this local one if not done already. Perhaps the Park Committee people need to have this pointed out for future installment. With so many other vacant city properties downtown, it would also be nice to see Dog Park #2 on the horizon, as this northerly trek is a long walk for many, by car it's not bad though.