W. Jordan opts to cede control of dog park to county

The West Jordan City Council has unanimously agreed to cede control of a planned dog park to Salt Lake County after county officials said they wanted to see more amenities.

The Salt Lake County Council, which had granted the city $400,000 to build a dog park at about 6000 West on New Bingham Highway, last month signed off on West Jordan's plans for the park — as long as the city improved eight areas of the plan first.

Chief among those improvements was better compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which would make amenities and facilities at the four-acre park more accessible to handicapped users. The county also asked for increased parking, a pet spray-off station, more benches and a small pavilion, among other items.

Many of the improvements had been listed in the city's plans as possible alternatives to be added after bid estimates began coming in for construction of the park. The city expected the basic plan to cost about $217,000.

But Councilman Rob Bennett said the council started to become "shell-shocked" as the cost mounted. Originally, he had expected the park to cost $25,000 in city money with another $25,000 from community fund raising.

He said the City Council wanted to spend as little as possible of the county's $400,000 on the dog park so that the balance of it could go toward something that would benefit residents citywide, not just dog owners.

But the county, as well as dog-park advocates throughout the city, wanted the extras to be assured a place in the plan.

The City Council's vote on Tuesday relinquishes the park to the county, leasing the land to the county for $1 a year and leaving the planning, design, building and maintenance to the county.

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