By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
RAVENA — The dog park at Mosher Park continues to have problems with residents not adhering to the rules that have been put in place, according to Mayor Bill Misuraca.
Misuraca said at the Nov. 21 meeting of the village board that issues continue to plague the park.
There is an annual fee to use the dog park, but not everyone is paying their fair share.
“The dog park is cheap. I know a lot of people think it should be free. Well, it’s not, and it’s not going to be because there is upkeep associated with the dog park and we don’t want it to be a burden on all of the taxpayers.”
The cost to register your pet for the dog park is $30 for the year.
“It comes to pennies a day if you’re going to use it for your dogs and it’s really a nice place to run your dogs,” Misuraca said.
In addition to the annual fee, there are rules that must be followed, but not everyone is doing so.
“You can register three dogs in a household, but you can only bring two at a time,” Misuraca said. “The reason is control — your dogs might be incredibly well behaved, some people’s aren’t. Two dogs are more manageable. We’ve had an issue with people bringing multiple dogs. That has to stop.”
Registered users of the dog park are issued a lanyard proving they are registered and have paid the annual fee, but not everyone is wearing theirs.
“We’ve had issues with people not wearing the lanyard that we provide with a tag,” the mayor said. “It’s just so people can visually see that you’re supposed to be there. We’ve had an issue with people not adhering to that.”
The village installed an electronic entry system at the entrance to the fenced-in dog park and issued pass codes for registered users, but that, too, has proved to be an issue with some users.
“We spent a lot of money on an electric code box to get in because there were plenty of people not signing up,” Misuraca said. “The sign-up and the fee are for the safety of the dogs — it’s not about the village making money. We don’t make money on this. We want to know the dogs are vaccinated, we want to know the dogs are registered with the town of Coeymans, which is a Coeymans law, not our law, but that’s how it has to be.”
Registered users are asked not to give access to the dog park for dog owners who are not registered.
“I am asking nicely — stop sharing the code, don’t hold the gate for people. Just follow the rules. They are really simple and we are not asking much,” Misuraca said. “We don’t want to take your pass away, we don’t want to be cop callers. It’s not our thing, but just please make life easier for everybody.”
VILLAGE HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES
The traditional Christmas parade is set to march through the village this weekend.
The parade will take place this Saturday, Dec. 2. The event will kick off at 6 p.m., beginning at Coeymans Landing, where the Christmas tree will be lit, and will then wind through the village, with marchers, floats, decorated fire trucks and more.
The village tree will be lit at Veterans Memorial Park.
The parade will end at Mosher Park. Each year, spectators line the streets of the village — particularly on Main Street — to watch the festivities.
The village is also hosting a holiday decorating contest, which will be judged on Dec. 16 and 17, Deputy Mayor Nancy Warner said at the village board meeting.
“If you want to participate in the decorating contest, your house has to be decorated and lit on those two evenings — the 16th and 17th,” Warner said. “We don’t go out past 9 o’clock, so once it hits 9 p.m., you can turn them off.”
Three prizes will be handed out to the homeowners with the most festive decorations. This year’s prizes will be structured a bit differently.
“We will have a first-place and second-place for general decorations and lights, but then we thought we should have a separate prize for the blow-up category because you can’t really compete blow-ups against lights,” Warner said. “So, there will be three prizes — two for lights and one for decorations in general.”
