A recent park district ruling requires that all dog parks have an active committee composed of dog park patrons to communicate with the Chicago Park District dog park reps and assist with the upkeep and maintenance of the dog park.
Maintenance - The DFA Committee and members must assist in the maintenance of the DFA. It is the responsibility of the Committee and members of the DFA to clean up after their pets; rotate, bleach and replace any pea gravel areas, including removing pea gravel and waste that has spilled outside of the dog friendly area; wash down the hard surface area bi-weekly; powerwash hard surface area 3 – 4 times per year (schedule this with the Chicago Park District Area Manager); and on a daily basis, clean up any waste that other users may have missed. The regular users of the DFA should inform new users of the DFA rules and regulation as well as the importance of maintenance. The DFA Committee must provide the Chicago Park District with a monthly cleaning schedule.
Monitoring – The DFA Committee and members of the DFA shall assist in the monitoring of the DFA. The DFA Committee members should encourage the enforcement of the leash laws outside of the DFA, monitor the behavior of the dogs and dog owners using the DFA, and assist in the education of new users.
Management – The DFA Committee should communicate frequently with the Chicago Park District regarding the management of the DFA. IF problems occur with the operation or patrons of the DFA, the Chicago Park District must be informed and involved in the resolution of the problem.
Fundraising – The DFA Committee should organize fundraising campaigns to finance new projects for the DFA such as a doggie drinking fountain, an information/bulletin board; an isolation area or an agility area; non-capital improvements or repairs; a storage shed for hose, waste bags, and cleaning supplies; new benches; non-standard Chicago Park District DFA design element repair or replacement; and upgrades of standard design elements.
Clean-Ups – The DFA Committee and members should hold semi-annual entire park clean-ups in conjunction with the Friends of the Parks, Earth Day, and Clean and Green celebrations.