TOLEDO GOVERNMENT

City website rebuilding, dog park approved

Toledo City Council unanimously gets ball rolling on 2 projects.

9/17/2013

Toledo City Council on Tuesday cleared the way for a dog park in South Toledo with a zone change and a special-use permit for property at Woodsdale Park.

Council also approved spending $30,000 to rebuild the city’s Web site after it went down last week. All of the content was lost when the company hired to host it experienced a “catastrophic system failure.”

Council voted 12-0 to approve funding the new Web site and later voted 11-0 in favor of the dog park permit and zone change from single family residential to parks open space. Councilman Rob Ludeman left early from council’s regular meeting and was not present for that vote.

The former site of the South Toledo YMCA, near the Anthony Wayne Trail in Woodsdale Park, will be used for the dog park.

A group called Toledo Unleashed, which promotes chances for dogs to socialize off their leashes, has been planning the park at the former South Toledo YMCA site in Woodsdale Park since 2009. The organization submitted an application for a special-use permit for a four-acre parcel at the site in June. The city sent the group a draft-lease permit and was approved in August by the city’s planning commission.

No date has been set for the opening. The park’s cost, estimated to be about $65,000, will be paid for through fund-raising efforts and private donations, Toledo Unleashed president Tina Yoppolo said.

The city owns the land and will lease it to Toledo Unleashed for $5 for five years.

“As a dog-owner myself, this is a very popular issue in many metropolitan areas, especially in California. The only way this is going to work is if they have a solid business," said Councilman D. Michael Collins, a candidate for Toledo mayor.

The group is required to purchase the insurance for the dog park, said Mr. Collins, whose district includes the property.

Ms. Yoppolo has said a membership for one dog for one year will cost between $35 and $50; Toledo Unleashed board members have yet to determine the exact cost. All dogs that use the park must have licenses, appropriate vaccinations, and tests. They also must be spayed or neutered, and owners must prove all information before they are granted membership, she said. There will be two separate parts of the park: one for smaller dogs and another for larger breeds.

Regarding the city’s Web site, Deputy Mayor Steve Herwat said a slimmed-down version is operational and being hosted by Buckeye CableSystem Inc., which is owned by Block Communications Inc., parent company of The Blade. The company has at least three redundant servers based in different locations, Mr. Herwat said.

Web development company Avatar LLC re-established the city’s Web site after the crash at the hosting company, TekOrange, of Columbus.

Contact Ignazio Messina at: imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171 or on Twitter @IgnazioMessina.