Painesville reports progress on adding Rec Park facilities, getting geese to leave

Apr. 24—Painesville officials recently reported progress in their efforts to install a new dog park and splash pad and reduce the number of goose droppings at Kiwanis Recreation Park.

Councilwoman Christine Shoop provided updates on those initiatives during a recent City Council meeting, when she summarized the latest meeting of Painesville's Public Lands and Recreation Commission.

Workers have completed the dog park's fencing, parking area and drainage work, Shoop said. They are installing water stations for people and dogs, as well as stations with bags to collect dog waste.

The city is planning to complete the dog park on or before Memorial Day weekend, added Painesville Public Works and Recreation Director Michelle LaPuma in a later phone call. It will replace the former baseball diamond 6, and it will include areas for both small and large dogs.

"It's coming along, it looks really nice," LaPuma said.

Shoop also reported that the splash pad is still on track for an expected Memorial Day weekend opening date.

A city news release from October stated that the splash pad will extend over 2,315 square feet. It will include water coils, dump buckets, water arches, jet sprays, an orbit spray, a "Sprin Brella," water shooters and a water worm.

Officials also recently made repairs to dugouts on a number of the park's baseball fields, Shoop said.

In addition to adding and repairing amenities, LaPuma said that the city is also working to make the park cleaner by addressing the issue of goose droppings.

The city has hired Ohio Geese Control to bring dogs three times each weekday and once each Saturday and Sunday to "encourage the geese to scatter," she said, adding this tactic poses "no harm to the geese."

LaPuma said that the contract will run for one year. The dogs will not come in parts of the summer when the geese are molting and unable to fly.

"It's been working well," she said. "We have a lot of children that play in the park, there was a lot of droppings that really weren't good for the children to be playing in, so we're trying to just make it a healthier environment."

"It's just been effective and I think it's a good thing for the community," LaPuma added.