Castlegar city council will discuss installing lights on the dog walk as part of their 2023 budget deliberations, but one councillor has already indicated she’s unlikely to support the idea.
The matter came up last week as council discussed a letter from a resident unhappy that lights have not yet been installed.
Councillor Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff agreed it’s an issue.
“People are putting glow sticks on their dogs, on themselves, to see,” she said. “There are 10 to 15 dogs there at once. They’re starting to fight. Owners can’t see their dogs. It’s becoming a safety issue for people using it.”
Chief financial officer Ola Oladele said adding lights was identified as a project in 2019, with plans to have them installed in 2023, but it remains up to council to decide whether to proceed.
Councillor Cherryl MacLeod, who lives near the dog walk, which is at Millennium Park, said she is “vehemently opposed” to the idea.
“We listen to dog fights down there during the daylight enough already,” she said. “We also listen to the owners of said dogs fight in the neighbourhood fight constantly. I understand [dog owners] want a place. We have places you can walk with street lights.”
MacLeod said before she would consider voting to include the lights in the budget, neighbours would have to be asked for their thoughts, “because we certainly weren’t asked about putting the dog park there initially.
“To light up their yards until 10 or 11 at night when it’s the only time it’s somewhat quiet down there, I’m not in favor of that at all in any way, shape, or form. We’d certainly need to have the residents who live down there in favor.”