Pleasanton City Council Approves Bernal Dog Park Project

PLEASANTON, CA: The Pleasanton City Council voted Tuesday to award a construction contract for its new off-leash dog park, which will be located on the northwest corner of the Bernal Property, along the Marilyn Murphy Kane trail.

In 2014, the Parks and Recreation Master Plan identified a need for a new dog park. In response to this identified need, City staff conducted community outreach meetings to both corroborate the need and find the best location, which was determined to be immediately adjacent to the Marilyn Murphy Kane trail.

The dog park, when complete, will be roughly 1.5 acres of a fenced dog play area. The fenced area will include a place for small dogs and a separate larger space for bigger dogs. Both of the areas will have dog drinking fountains, shade structures, seating, trees, trash receptacles and dog waste stations. The large dog area will also have some agility structures, including a seesaw, hoops and a jumping stand.

During the conceptual design process, staff screened the park with earthen berms and drought tolerant landscape. Like the Bernal Park Oak Woodland and Marilyn Murphy Kane trail, the dog park will be landscaped with drought tolerant plants that are well-suited for our climate.

As part of the anticipated increased use of the walking trail and dog park, the existing Marilyn Murphy Kane trail parking lot will be expanded from its current 13 spaces to 25.

Four bids for construction of the dog park were received and after going through the normal review process, staff recommended the contract be awarded to Cleary Bros. Landscape, Inc. for the base bid amount of $545,291. The total construction cost is estimated to be around $600,000. A total of $400,000 has been set aside for the project in the Capital Improvement Program budget and $7,350 was generously donated by Pleasanton Planning Commissioner, Nancy Allen, an avid dog walker.

The remaining $192,650 will be appropriated from the City’s In-Lieu Park Dedication Reserve Fund. Construction is slated to begin in May, 2016 and it is anticipated that the park will be open later in the year. The Council vote was unanimous.

Announcement submitted by City of Pleasanton

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