By Cynthia Whitty

The Ashland Dog Park Committee announced recently, that after five years of working on creating its Bark Park, the committee has obtained $25,000 from the Stanton Foundation, which covers up to 100 percent of the costs of moving from a preliminary sketch of a dog park to bid-ready documents for a contractor. Design grants equal 10 percent of the estimated hard construction costs of a proposed project.

“After the design is complete, we move on to the construction phase,” Cara Tirrell, committee organizer, said. “To be eligible for a construction grant, the design of the park must have been completed within 12 months of receiving design grant funds.” Once the full plan and bid documents--“design documents”—have been prepared using the funds provided through the design grant, the next steps are:

The town submits design documents to the Foundation for design review.

Once design documents are approved by the Foundation, the town selects a contractor.

The town submits a financial statement to the Foundation demonstrating that the town’s 10 percent financial commitment is immediately available for payment to the contractor.

The Foundation reviews and approves the contractor selected by the town.

The town and the Foundation sign the final memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The Foundation provides a cash grant equal to 90 percent of the bid selected.

The Ashland Bark Park will be located on two acres known as Parcel #13-138 on Memorial Drive (previously known as the MBTA access road). The future Bark Park will be on the right side of the street nestled between the future YMCA on the left and Upper Charles Rail Trail.

“We need to raise $15,000+ to cover the Stanton Foundation’s requirement of community contributed funds,” Tirrell said. “We are holding a spring fundraiser on May 8, rain date May 15, at The Corner Spot from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. We welcome well-behaved leashed dogs who can be around food, children, loud noises and other dogs! All dog owners are expected to clean up after their dogs.”

Tirrell notes, that in addition to attending the fundraiser, there are many ways to support the Bark Park: checks payable to Ashland Bark Park, 3 Hilldale Rd., Ashland, 01721; PayPal: www.paypal.me/AshlandDogPark; and venmo:@Ashland-Dogpark. Donations are tax-deductible. For more information, visit www.ashlanddogpark.com or email [email protected].