MEMO
TO:              Augusta
FROM:          Kevin & Tara Scheyer
RE:              Garden City Bark Park         


To all the supporters:
Thank you for believing in us and for trying to do something good for your
community.  Out of nearly 1,000 names on our Dog Park interest list, only 29 of
you actually signed up and made a commitment to the project.  We are refunding
your money in full. All other donations will be kept in the bank.  If it ever looks
like the dog park may be a possibility again, then we’ll have something to start
with.  If someone else (maybe one of you?) has a go at it and is successful, we will
be the first to donate money and to sign up our own dogs.  If not, we’ll donate the
money to local rescue groups.  (see the letter addressed to you below)

To all the folks who wanted to know why we couldn’t have a
FREE dog park:
Now you can add the question: “Why can’t we have any kind of dog park at all?”  
You’re right!  Other cities do have free parks.  Other cities in Georgia and all over
the country have free dog parks.  Those free parks are supported and maintained
by the city, county or even private groups.  That’s not the case here in Augusta,
where we live.

Please direct those questions to your local commissioners or contact Tom Beck,
Augusta Recreations and Parks Department.  

To all the folks who said we could never do it:
Congratulations, you were right.  It is exactly that kind of negative non-support
that will continue to keep Augusta from becoming the progressive city it could be.



Dear Garden City Bark Park members,
We are refunding your membership money (contact us at Fetch if you haven't
received it in the mail, yet).  We thank you so much for investing such a substantial
amount into our idea.  We knew from the beginning that we would be up against
major opposition, but were willing to work hard to provide this much-needed
service to Augusta.  After more than 3 years of road blocks, we realize that the
people who could make this happen for Augusta continue to instead make it
impossible.

We have tried to be diplomatic about our city meetings all along hoping that our
loyalty would pay off and benefit dog owners in the entire area.  Since it has not,
and since you trusted us enough to invest in a park that didn’t even have a home,
yet, we feel we owe you the whole story.

We first experienced the benefits of dog parks when we lived in Nashville.  There
were several official and unofficial ones in the city and surrounding areas including
one a few blocks from our home.  We met our friends and their dogs there every
day after work and let our dogs run for 15- 20 minutes.  We were amazed at the
difference in Petey.  He stopped gnawing on our couch, he quit digging in the
garden, he became very socialized (yes, Petey!  Can you believe it?).  These benefits
were not just nice perks, they were characteristics absolutely necessary for a big
“aggressive breed” dog like Petey to be considered a well-balanced, safe, healthy
and happy dog.  When Dooley came along, we were even more grateful to be able
to visit our dog parks.  We went to all kinds:  a fence-less park shared with people,
an 8-foot fenced-in tiny square of a park next to the Humane Society in Franklin
(20 min drive), a huge acreage with woods, ponds, deer and ducks.  You name it.  
We never once saw a real dog fight, we never once saw people letting their dogs run
amuck, we never saw any kind of disrespect in any way.  We did see an owner
ignore his dog poop once, and the other dog owners were on him so fast, that I’m
sure he never forgot to clean up again!

We were very excited to bring the dog park idea with us to Augusta since there wasn’
t one already.  Honestly, (as we’ve told you many times) we mainly just wanted to
use the park ourselves.  

Since we first started working on this park in July, 2002, we’ve had 3 potential
homes for the park.  After looking for private land, and even trying to buy some
land, we decided to work with the parks system.  We first designed a plan for the
old zebra habitat area at Pendleton King Park.  It hadn’t been in use for years
and we had a friend on the board who was supposedly talking it up to the other
board members.  After a year of landscaping designs, proposal folders for the
Board, and waiting waiting waiting to present our plan to the Board, we realized we
were never going to get that meeting.  In the meantime, we had also been exploring
other options. One was with Augusta Recreation and Parks Department.  After
being told “no” for 2 years in a row, we tried for the 3rd time, and as luck would
have it, the National Parks & Rec publication for the quarter happened to feature a
cover story on Dog Parks across the country.  The director, Tom Beck, wanted
Augusta to be in step with other major cities across the country.  Even though the
Augusta Recreation & Parks Dept would not finance a free park that would be open
to the public, Tom agreed to allow us to start a private, fee-based dog park.  We
finally had someone in our corner!

The stipulations were very simple:  he would find us land, we would rent it for a
small fee, and we’d be responsible for everything else- including fencing, signage,
utilities, maintenance and even insurance since the city wasn’t willing to be
responsible for that.

That meant our personal names would be on the insurance.  Our lawyer even
advised us against it because if something did happen we could lose our store, even
our home.  We forged on, anyway.  Tom found us the ideal location:  the old
batting cage area behind the Eisenhower Park little league fields.  We got new
landscape drawings, we started fund-raising, we started taking memberships.  
Then we found out that although the Recreation & Parks Dept owns the land, it is
still written into an old lease belonging to West Augusta Little League, headed by
Donnie Wilkins.  He hasn’t ever used that section of the land, and it was a just
small corner of the big space he rents for $1 a year, so we asked him if we could
use the old batting cage area.  I guess he thought we were just rich kids looking
for a hobby because he agreed to let us have the unused corner for $2,500 a
year.  He said if we wanted it bad enough, we would have to be willing to fund his
little league.  Obviously we couldn’t agree.  

Tom Beck continued looking for a space for us and after a couple other options,
offered us the old practice field behind the Green Jackets Stadium.  We thought
that was a very good second choice.  It was right across from CSRA Humane
Society, so we could tie in events and adoptions with them.  It was partially fenced,
it had great parking.  We were very excited and began vigorous fund-raising,
again.  Then Cal Ripkin Jr bought the stadium and we were kicked out.  He had
plans to turn it into a little league field.  So we had money from people who were
trusting us to build them a dog park, and once again had no land on which to
build it.

Then last fall, Tom Beck went to bat for us with Donnie Wilkins who agreed to
lease us the corner of his land for the same price he’s paying ($1 a year), however,
we would have to take over his water bills and maintenance.  At that point we were
willing to do it just to get the dog park running. So we campaigned for the fall,
generating corporate sponsorship interests, getting more members, and donating
all the money from Fetch’s Howl-O-Ween Festival and Pet Pictures with Santa
Paws.  As most of you know we raised a good bit of money in those 2 events and
we were getting closer and closer to having the fence. (Remember, we weren’t
raising money for elaborate landscaping, water features, or covered sitting areas.  
All we’ve been trying to raise money for -the WHOLE time- is just a fence to put
around the park. Everything else has been donated:  agility equipment from Animal
House, a entrance drinking fountain from Molly’s Militia and landscaping from
local flower and garden clubs.)

So as we got closer and closer to our park becoming a reality, we started trying to
set up meetings with Tom Beck to finalize our lease.  And that’s where the newest
road block came in.  We’ve just recently found out that our lease won’t be with
Augusta Recreation and Parks Department after all, it will be a sublease with
Donnie Wilkins and West Augusta Little League, since their name is on the original
lease, even though they have never actually used the land.  That means they could
be take the land back from us at any time for any reason.  Even if they just feel
like using it.  Even once it’s completed and in use.

We feel like we’ve already lost a lot of faith with our supporters by losing land twice
now.  The last thing we want to do is invest the money you gave us in good faith
with an organization that has already tried to overcharge us once and has
consistently shown us questionable ethics.

We’ve asked Tom Beck to re-write the lease so we could work with him directly,
since Donnie Wilkins has never even used that small section of city land, but Tom
is pretty much washing his hands of us.  We sublease with Donnie & West Augusta
Little League or the deal’s off.

After working on this for so long, we were certainly willing to go another extra
mile.  But it’s not our money we’re gambling with- it’s yours.  And we value your
support too much to invest your money in people or situations we don’t feel
comfortable with.  Not to mention the fact that our business and home will
essentially be in someone else’s control were anything to happen that the West
Augusta Little League Board doesn’t agree with.

So, after 3 ½ years of trying to bring a dog park to Augusta, we’re going to take a
break and see if someone else wants to try for a while.  Maybe Richmond County
just isn’t ready for it, yet.  In the meantime, we’ll continue giving our pups plenty of
much-needed exercise in fenced-in yards and on-leash.  A dog park would make
it easier, but they are certainly work the extra effort.  We will also continue to
brainstorm and rally behind this worthy cause. If we come up with any ideas, we’ll
let you know (check fetchdogtreats.com for updates).  Of course if we ever hit the
lottery, we’ll buy land and build a free dog park ourselves…

We welcome your opinions.  Please direct all questions and comments to Kevin &
Tara Scheyer at fetchdogtreats@aol.com.

Thank you,
Kevin & Tara Scheyer