The effort to raise $25,000 in matching funds to build two off-leash dog parks in Kenosha County may get a big boost if an anonymous person’s pending $12,000 donation is completed.
Mark Modory, the county supervisor who has been spearheading the drive to build the parks, said a person has approached the county about buying naming rights for the parks. In exchange, the person is willing to donate $12,000.
Modory was speaking at a Randall Town Board/Plan Commission joint meeting Thursday evening. The boards were considering a request by the county to share the entrance to the town’s Bassett Park for the entrance to the dog park, which is to be developed on adjacent county-owned land.
“I believe we already have the check in hand,” Modory said after the meeting. To complete the donation, the county will have to agree to the naming.
Supporters have been working to raise $25,000 to match $25,000 that County Executive Jim Kreuser designated from landfill fee revenues for development of the dog parks. The dog parks will not move forward until the matching funds are raised from private sources, Kreuser has said.
One of the dog parks is to be located at the as of yet unnamed county park under development along Highway KD in Wheatland and Randall. The other will be in Petrifying Springs County Park in Somers.
Two temporary dog parks have been set up — one at Petrifying Springs and the other in Old Settlers County Park in Paddock Lake. The temporary locations are meant to draw attention to the fundraising effort. Donation boxes are set up at both.
As for the shared entrance, Randall’s Plan Commission and the Town Board approved the sharing of the existing driveway. Town Board members, however, stipulated the town should create a formal “shared use” agreement with the county to govern the issue. The town also may seek an agreement designating who will maintain the parking area, some of which will be shared between Bassett Park and the dog park.