Waikoloa Dog Park is Slowly Becoming a Reality

Thanks to Some Dedicated Dog Lovers, Waikoloa Dog Park is Slowly Becoming a Reality

It is almost impossible to take a walk in Waikoloa Village and not see someone out walking their dog. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a designated safe place for people to bring their dogs to meet and have fun? That idea is slowly becoming a reality thanks to the Friends of the Waikoloa Dog Park group. I recently connected with Rhonda Pollard, owner of Lava Dogs 808, who is spearheading the movement. Below is a highlight of what she was able to tell me.

The “Friends of the Waikoloa Village Dog Park” is currently working on our non-profit status. They meet monthly (typically the 1st Monday of every month) at 5:00 pm at the Waikoloa Village Association’s Community Room, and they welcome newcomers any time. They are currently looking at two areas for the Waikoloa dog park: Kamakoa Nui County Park and a vacant area next to the Waikoloa Stables that would have much more room for the dogs, but would take much more planning, funding, time, and labor than the Kamakoa Nui location. If they decide to build at the Stables, they would need to present a business plan to the WVA. There is a possibility of using funds from the WVA budget so it is important for as many people as possible to contact our Mayor and council members to voice their needs.

Zoe, so excited to go for a walk.

 Waikoloa Dog Park Update

(August 29, 2017) Provided by Rhonda Pollard

In order to open a County dog park, we are required to form a group in which each member reads and agrees to the County’s “Friends of the Park” Program agreement and completes/submits the County waiver of liability form.  Essentially, this means the park would be a “community effort,” assisting the County’s Parks & Recreation Department financially and manually with on-going maintenance, improvements, combatting vandalism and litter (including picking up the poop, even if it does not belong to our dogs), providing volunteer manpower to help “stretch” tax dollars.

The Waikoloa dog park size has been approved at 15,000 square feet (For comparison, 1 acre = 43,560 sq ft).

We Need:

• $9,500 for fencing alone. $6,500 has already been appropriated for the park (Mahalo previous Councilwoman Margaret Wille!), but the fencing will cost approximately $16,000. We will also need funds for anything else that the park needs in order to open (soil, grass seed, irrigation, benches, shade structures, trees, signage, other landscaping, as well as a liability insurance policy under the “Friends of the Kamakoa Nui Dog Park.”
• YOU! We need as many committed individuals as possible whether you can assist financially or with manual labor, we will need volunteers to commit to a schedule of mowing, weeding, picking up poop, fixing irrigation/fencing, etc.  This is a long-term commitment.

Interested? Send an email to rhonda@lavadogshawaii.com with your contact information.