The finalized fence line separating the dog park and baseball diamonds at Marshall Fields (image courtesy of the City of Vernon)

By Liam Verster

Vernon council

Marshall Fields dog park-baseball fence line brought in, approved

Jun 26, 2023 | 7:16 PM

A revised plan for the fencing between the off-leash dog park and the baseball diamonds at Marshall Fields has been approved by Vernon council.

At the regular meeting Monday, June 26, Councillor Akbal Mund made a motion to rescind approval of a previous plan for the fence line.

That passed with Councillor Kari Gares being the sole vote against.

Mund then put forward a new proposal for the layout of the fence line.

The fence line proposed by Councillor Akbal Mund and that received approval at the regular meeting Monday, June 26 (image courtesy of the City of Vernon)

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The proposed permanent fencing would start at the parking lot, run behind the east diamond, cut down and run slightly parallel to the first base line before jutting up past the equipment building, around the west diamond, then down the first base line and sealing off the western most bullpen. The plan would also fence in the east bullpen on the west diamond.

Mund explained at the meeting that he, city staff, Mayor Victor Cumming, and Vernon Minor Baseball representatives went out to the park over the weekend to develop a plan that best serves people’s needs and minimizes the impacts to the off-leash dog area.

“The modifications are saving basically half the space of the fencing that was required from our previous plan, and I think we all kind of looked at what we could possibly do to mitigate as many issues as we can,” Mund explained.

At the meeting Cumming suggested bringing the fence closer on the north side of the east diamond and narrowing the spectator segment between the diamonds.

Mund responded that a wider area was needed along that section so equipment could be moved in and out of a storage building.

Gares noted Marshall Fields was originally designated as a sports field when it was previously owned by the Regional District of North Okanagan. A dog park was added at a later date when the city had taken over, and in 2019 it was designated an off-leash park without public consultation.

She stated at the meeting that she preferred the original plan that would allow more room around the diamonds.

“We’re trying to be fair to all user groups that are utilizing that facility, but I do have a small struggle with the fact that we would potentially be cutting back a significant amount of additional space for the sports community who may be able to use that in future years,” Gares explained.

“Everything we do needs to be looked at here and now but [also] what it is going to be in the future. Why are we giving up this space and are we going to find ourselves in a situation where we’re going to have to retract? That is the worst thing you want to do, put up a fence now, and in 10 years down the road realize you need that space for future growth.”

Councillor Kelly Fehr indicated he believed this was a good compromise, and Councillor Teresa Durning thanked the people who took the time to come up with the solution.

Mund’s motion was put to a vote and passed, with Cumming and Gares voting in opposition.

Also at the meeting, Mund stated he received pictures from the baseball group over the weekend showing “landmines” all over the diamonds.

“It was probably a dozen, and I don’t know if that was intentional but it’s disappointing to see that” said Mund, adding he applauded Vernon Minor Baseball for continuing to work on a solution despite having to deal with those on the fields.

“They shouldn’t have to deal with that. I get if once in a while a dog gets off and owners are talking to each other and they don’t see their dog go, I know it happens, but this weekend was disgusting, it should not have happened. So I hope this doesn’t happen in the future.”

Speaking with Vernon Matters following the meeting, Cumming said there was a view that less park should be fenced in for the diamond users voiced by many people recently, but a compromise was ultimately reached and approved.

“It’s one of those challenges council always has, trying to see what they see as a balance of needs and interests and clearly there’s a variety of user groups who use Marshall Fields and [council] is really pleased with that,” Cumming stated.

“When we get these interactions between user groups you’ve got to figure out some sort of a compromise and council set that today for this particular area.”

Cumming said the operations department will start the work on installing the fence, though a timeline for that work was not known.

The city had previously decided to allocate $45,000 towards the fence installation, with $10,000 of that coming from a Vernon Minor Baseball contribution and the remainder from the 2022 Uncommitted Unexpended reserve.