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EASTPOINTE — People who enjoy the Mi Dog Park in Eastpointe will have to continue to pay annual fees to use the park after the City Council voted to move the damaged fob system to a cloud-based system.
The dog park, which is located inside Memorial Park on 10 Mile Road in Eastpointe, was created in 2015 by a group of volunteers who raised funds with the goal of offering Eastpointe, Roseville and Warren residents a safe and secure place for their dogs. However, the original group was dissolved in 2018, and since then, the city, along with the Recreation Authority of Roseville and Eastpointe, has taken on the financial and maintenance responsibilities.
According to the July 1 City Council meeting agenda packet, there are currently 113 active members of the park. Eastpointe residents pay $25 annually and nonresidents pay $35. The membership grants access through a key fob, which is distributed through RARE. RARE sends about $1,500 a year back to Eastpointe to help with the maintenance of the park.
The money sent back, however, doesn’t cover the entire cost of the internet and fob system maintenance.
Recently, a power surge damaged the technology controlling the fobs, and repairs were estimated at about $3,000, according to the agenda documentation. The information technology contractor who maintains the equipment suggested using a cloud service for a one-time cost of $1,500 and $180 annually, plus the cost of the internet.
The other option facing City Council was to remove the fob system and make the dog park open to everyone, incurring no additional costs to the city.
At the City Council meeting, Councilman Harvey Curley was opposed to opening the dog park to the public.
“I think that people who put out $25 or $35 … I think they do that because they want security, they want it to be private and all the other adjectives I can think of and that you all can think of,” he said. “So, opening that up to everybody is just Pandora’s box.”
Mayor Michael Klinefelt agreed with Curley, stating he liked the idea of people having to apply for access to the park as a way to ensure the dogs are up-to-date on vaccines.
Klinefelt also added that having users pay to use it will help bring more amenities to the park.
“We’ve had to combine our recreation systems, we’ve had amenities in the park close, we’ve had to tear things out. … Charging for individuals to use amenities is nothing new,” Klinefelt said.
Councilwoman Margaret Podsiadlik voiced concerns over what would happen if there was another power surge. However, City Finance Director Randall Blum stated that because the new system is cloud-based, it would be safer.
“There would be some electronics, but not as much that could be damaged,” he said. “So a cloud system would be safer than we have.”
City Council voted 4-0 to move to the cloud-based system. Councilman Cardi DeMonaco Jr. was absent from the meeting.
