By STEPHEN HAMMILL

A group of fifth-graders from Lutz Elementary School wanted to do something big for their environmental project. With the help of their teacher, and the organization Earth Force, they succeeded to the tune of $150,000.

Hillsborough County held a public meeting Jan. 16 at the Lutz Community Center, 98 First Ave. N.W. to discuss construction of a dog park in Lutz, as proposed by the students. The site is at Carolyn Meeker Park, 122 First Ave.

Judy Alvarez teaches math and science from kindergarten through fifth-grade at Lutz Elementary School. Her school, along with dozens of others in the Tampa Bay area, works with the Earth Force group on environmental school projects.

Earth Force is a national organization which engages young people as active citizens to improve the environment in their communities and to create sustainable solutions to local environment issues.

Alvarez said some of the projects her kids completed in previous years included a butterfly garden and a newspaper recycling program.
Last year, kids from Alvarez’s fifth-grade class made the request to build the dog park.

“They voted heavily to do the dog park,” said Alvarez. “We wanted to dissuade them. It just seemed like too big a thing to attempt.”

She was concerned that a drawn-out process involving local government would mean the kids would be gone from the school long before seeing any results.
“We said, ‘Well, let’s go to a county commission meeting and see what we can do.’”

At the meeting, two of Alvarez’ students were given three minutes to speak to the commission.

“In my four years, I’ve never witnessed anything as powerful as this presentation,” said Mark Thornton, director of Hillsborough County’s Parks, Recreation & Conservation Department. “It was great for the kids to partake in local government.”

“They got to see politics in action,” said Alvarez. The fifth-graders were given a tour of the county election offices after they spoke.
Shortly before the new school year started up, Alvarez was informed the dog park was on the docket for the county.

After looking at various possible locations, including Nye Park, Commissioner Ken Hagan informed Thornton that the county commisioners were ready to approve a $150,000 budget for the park on First Avenue.

The dog park will be a facility set aside for dogs and their owners where the animals can play unleashed in a controlled environment. The county currently has two dog parks for public use – West Park in Town ‘N Country and the Mango Recreation Center in Seffner.

The plans call for the inclusion of a nature and walking trail, which may connect the dog park to other areas. The budget for the nature trail is still pending.
The funding is in place to begin construction. The park’s budget of $150,000 will cover construction of perimeter fences, a gravel parking lot and a permanent public restroom.

The most time-consuming part of build-out will be the public restroom, which may take a year to complete, Thornton said. The fencing contract is already arranged, and the park itself should be open within weeks.

The proposed site contains a retention pond at its center, which Thornton said could later be used for water-loving dogs on a time reservation basis, barring aligators.

Thornton said since there are few trees on the site, a pavilion may be built to provide shade to visitors.

Plans also call for a large dog area and a small dog area, each about an acre in size. There will be drinking fountains for both people and dogs.
Dog owners are expected to place solid waste in cans. The park will close Wednesday mornings while waste material is removed by maintenance crews. Thornton mentioned composting as a more eco-friendly option for the park, but said it would be a more expensive process.

Thornton said once up and running, the dog park will be mostly self-sufficient. The county will spray the park for flees and ticks three to four times a year.
Many of the kids who first conceived of the dog park have scattered to various middle schools, but their lasting impact will be carried on to future kids, according to Alvarez.

“We’re going to go forward with this,” she said. The school is applying for grant money through Earth First to add future improvements to the dog park. They may also partake in water quality testing for the park’s pond.

Information about this and other parks can be found online at http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/parks.

The Earth Force Web site is http://www.earthforce.org.