It was just over a year ago that Viewpoint Vancouver reported on the plucky six year old that had difficulty crossing Ladner’s Central Avenue. She was walking across the road with her three brothers and sisters and her grandmother when a vehicle driver came from around the corner at great speed and almost hit the four children.
This six year old girl drew a picture of what happened and then wrote to Delta City Council stating
“I think we need a crosswalk by lions park to the stores. Lots of people cross there and it is a very busy road and it is hard to see around the corner. I am six years old.”
But wait! Another issue has now come forward which has the students at South Park Elementary School in Delta distressed. Despite the fact that there is an off-leash canine area in adjacent Dennison Park, dog owners are running their dogs in the school’s play yard. And not picking up the poop.
So the students mounted a letter writing campaign and sent the above photo to Delta Mayor Harvie and his Council. The students also wrote directly to Council. Using pencils.
You can take a look at the Council package here which includes handwritten letters from the students, sometimes double signed with printed and cursive signatures.
While there are no graphic pictures of the actual deed, the students describe what the impact of stepping in dog excrement has been when they come in to the classroom from the outside playing fields.
There is also a handy little map included by the students to Council which is upside down, but does display the students’ proposed solution: the placement of dog poop dispensers around the school so that dog owners that use the school’s enclosed playing field have no excuse not to be mindful of any potential deposit. That’s those little purple arrows.
Thankfully the City Manager has intervened and notes on the submission to Council “the field at South Park Elementary is owned and operated by the Delta School District. City staff will work with the district around signage to encourage the community to use Dennison Park (across from the school) which already has an existing off-leash dog area.
Staff would not recommend placing dog waste dispensers at the school site as it may encourage further use by dog owners”.
We will see what the students at South Park Elementary think about that. This item will be presented to Council on Monday January 10.
There will be a live stream. No word yet if the students are attending the meeting or the next stage of the students’ intended process.
I was house sitting and dogsitting in Union City New Jersey in 2018. The smallest city in America, at one and quarter square miles of almost complete concrete across the Hudson river from Manhattan. This Cuban American concrete jungle of a small city had a dog poop bag dispenser every other block. It’s a mark of a civilised society.