MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - At the Park Commission meeting held on Tuesday, February 9th the commission excitedly discussed a proposal for a dog playground.

"Our location would be centrally located in Central Park, directly across the parks and recreation offices on Gaylord Smith Court so it would be very visible, very accessible and we believe very manageable," Director of Parks & Recreation LuAnn Maisner mentioned.

This "doggie playground" would be a specialty park for both large and small canines, approximately 2 acres in size with trails and agility equipment.

"The neat thing about this dog playground is that we have a lot of dog visitors coming to this park, we have the police officers constantly going up and down this road…I think there's a lot of good things working for it," said Parks & Land Management Coordinator Jane Greenway.

This would be Meridian Township's first off-leash canine facility and would have separated areas for large dogs versus small dogs.

Greenway also mentioned that "there would be trails carrying the visitors through both sections."

The commission was very supportive of this proposal and were not hesitant of voicing their opinions on this project.

"We had some discussion in the work session..sounded like it was fairly well supported among the group," Chair Todd Wilson mentioned.

"I think it's a good location and just a good first step I think," Commissioner Melanie Jaramillo stated.

Commissioner Philip Deschaine shared his thoughts as well.

"This is well timed, we need to get our first dog park open as soon as possible because our residents want it and expect it after the park millage was passed."

Once the commission expressed their thoughts on the "doggie playground" proposal, both Maisner and Greenway shared their remaining thoughts on the project.

"I think this would really be a neat and unique feature in Meridian and we're all pretty excited about having the first doggie playground in the area," said Greenway.

I believe that there's a stat that nearly 50% of our residents are pet owners and I think to provide something for them in recreation and exercise for pets and their owners is very important. I honestly think this is a really great first step for us," Maisner stated.

Commissioner Mark Stephens announced a motion to consider this proposal:

"I move to build a doggie playground at Central Park adjacent to Gaylord Smith Court in Haslett, approximately 2 acres in size with both large and small dog areas, trails and agility equipment for an estimated cost of $76,000 funded by the park millage."

The motion was supported across the commission and this "doggie playground" will move forward.