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The location of a dog park in Sedro-Woolley remains in limbo.

A discussion about the proposed park was scheduled for last week’s Sedro-Woolley City Council meeting. However, Councilman Ted Meamber suggested delaying the decision to the Council’s July 9 meeting since Councilmen Hugh Galbraith and Pat Colgan were absent.

The Council approved the decision.

At the June 11 Council meeting, Sedro-Woolley Council members requested city staff find several possibilities for the location of the “Bark Park.”

At last week’s meeting, city staff recommended the entrance of Bingham Park for the Bark Park.

Other options included the center of Bingham Park, Janicki Power Line Park, Basset Landfill and two locations at Riverfront Park.

A memo from City Supervisor and Attorney Eron Berg justified the reasoning for their decision.

According to the memo, Riverfront Park would create a seasonal park with recurring costs for the replacement and repair from flooding, Basset is too far removed from the city and Janicki Power Line Park could not be fenced due to the presence of power lines.

Bingham Park is a good location because the city’s new parks and recreation department will be located there, and there are bathrooms and parking, Berg said.

“From the staff’s perspective, they think we did it right the first time,” he said at the meeting.

The decision is up to Council members, but the city parks department said they prefer not installing the dog park if Riverfront Park is the decision, Berg said. There is concern about building more fence within the flood way.

The Skagit River floods almost every year, said Shane Walley, division supervisor for the city parks department, in an interview.

Various parts of Riverfront Park are impacted by flooding, he said. During a small flood, the water reaches the nearby RV park, lower playground, the baseball field, the Stiles property (recently acquired by the city) and Little League fields.

During a large flood, water could reach as high as the new amphitheater, Walley said.

When flood waters recede, the RV park is a mess, there is gravel in the grass and most of the fencing becomes turned down, he said.

“It’s a flood way,” Walley said. “Anything put down there will get flooded.”

The flood damage cannot be repaired until the Federal Emergency Management Agency inspects the scene. The agency determines if it will issue funding for cleanup and how much, Walley said.

The process with FEMA may be extended depending on the amount of funds the agency gives the city, he said, and eventually the damage is repaired until the river floods again.

While the parks department has nine employees in the summer, it has just three full-time employees in the fall, winter and spring when flooding is common.

Walley said he couldn’t predict the department’s work load if a dog park was installed at Riverfront Park until he knew what type of fencing would be used.

Depending on the fencing they had to remove and reinstall, it could take employees one or more days. Even if a fence is removed, the fence poles would remain stationary and risk being damaged from logs during a flood, he said.

“In a perfect world, Riverfront Park would be the perfect place,” he said. “The only downfall is it floods.”

Although the item was tabled to the next meeting, the City Council allowed public comment.

Several people who spoke at the meeting opposed the location of Bingham Park and encouraged the location of Riverfront Park.

Sedro-Woolley resident Glenn Allen said he thought Riverfront Park was an ideal location because it would receive more use, especially with the RV park nearby.

“I just think it’s a lot more community friendly at Riverfront Park,” Allen said.

He also said he didn’t agree with city officials’ concern of not adding more fencing in the flood way since fencing already existed along the river and around the baseball fields.

Beth Rathbun, a member of the nonprofit group S.P.O.T. (Saving Pets One at a Time), said she was concerned about pet safety at Bingham Park since it is located near two busy highways.

“Both (highways) are incredibly dangerous and dogs are at high risk,” she said. “Not at Riverfront Park. I urge you to consider that.”

Mayor Mike Anderson said he didn’t care where the Bark Park is located and just wants to see it built.

The city needs a dog park, he said. People are currently taking their dogs to baseball fields where children are playing at, and no plastic bags are available to pick up after their pets, he said.