LEAGUE CITY — Shortly after the city council tried to wash its hands of the idea of building a dog park by sending the proposal back to the League City Parks Board, the parks board overwhelmingly voted to send the plan back to the council with a recommendation to build it.
The day after the 5-1 vote, the dog park was put onto the council’s agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, city spokeswoman Kristi Wyatt said.
It is likely the debate to resume construction of the $194,000 dog park will be as heated as the council meeting where it was snuffed out.
Proponents tout the park as a low-cost extra that enhances life for pet owners. Opponents argue the money would be better spent to fix the city’s drainage problems or on some other priority.
The dog park would be funded from park fees paid by developers.
Two weeks ago, the city halted work on the dog park after council members, in a split vote, sent the project back to the parks board for review.
Councilman Mick Phalen said he’s opposed to the process the council used to push the project forward, not the park itself.
Residents surveyed by the city in 2005 ranked the dog park No. 22 on a parks priority list, and council members approved the park without getting approval from the parks board. That’s a process that should have been followed, Phalen said.
But Councilman Neil Baron, the council’s major dog park backer, said the parks survey was flawed; the city surveyed fewer than 2,000 people, about 3 percent of the city’s population, Baron said.
The city so far has spent $15,000 clearing brush from the land on West Walker Street across from city hall.
