After meeting with approximately 75 concerned North Bergen residents recently, new Hudson County Freeholder Thomas Liggio will approach his fellow freeholders at the next caucus with his plan to create a dog run in North Hudson Braddock Park. The residents met with Liggio at the North Bergen Public Library last week to offer concerns about people allowing dogs to run free throughout the park without supervision and proper waste removal. Unleashed dogs and failure to remove waste are against the law and violators could be subjected to summonses and fines if caught. Liggio hopes to address the problem by having one or possibly two fenced in areas approximately 60 square yards in size, where people can bring their dogs, take them off their leash and allow them to run free in the area. Currently, North Bergen has dog runs for residents at both 64th Street and 88th Street parks, which have been in existence for at least five years. “This [new dog run] is in the talking stage,” Liggio said. “The people expressed their concerns because they were receiving summonses and they really didn’t have a place for their dogs to run free. There really hasn’t been any determination of size or anything. Just talking. But I like the idea and I know that Mayor [Nicholas] Sacco likes the idea.” The dog runs would be easier for park personnel to clean because dog wastes would accumulate only in designated areas. However, the plan has to be approved by the Freeholders’ Public Resource Committee before it can be introduced. “I have to present it to the freeholders and hope to do it within the next week or so,” Liggio said. “We have to see if it is feasible.” Officials have questioned the feasibility of the project. “After it gets presented and approved by the resource committee, then there has to be a way to control it, if the people want it,” said Thomas McCann, the director of the Hudson County Parks system. “Dog owners would have to take a responsibility to maintain the dogs. We would have to do a study, check the feasibility, the location. We have to see what effect there would be with a big dog, like a pit bull or a Rottweiler, being in the same dog run with little dogs, like a poodle. There are a lot of things to consider. This is not going to happen overnight.” One consideration is whether there is an appropriate amount of parking space for a dog run. Geographic location would also be a major concern, especially if the dog runs are placed anywhere near existing playing fields. If the dog run is instituted in Braddock Park, then similar runs would have to be constructed in the other county parks, like Lincoln Park in Jersey City or Laurel Hill in Secaucus. “That’s a possibility,” Liggio said. “I don’t know what the feelings of the people who live near Lincoln Park or Bayonne Park are on this matter. But I know that there are a number of people near North Hudson Park that are concerned and would like to see something done. Eventually, we would have to take a look at it county-wide.” However, Lincoln Park in Jersey City has little or no open space available. There is an unofficial cricket league that regularly plays on a 40-square yard area of the park. Other recreational activities are constantly ongoing. McCann said his staff, who currently cleans general trash from the parks, would not welcome a dog run and a daily cleanup. But Liggio said that the residents showed interest in maintaining the dog run. “They said that they would help monitor it, that they would be glad to volunteer,” Liggio said. “I knew that watching the dog run would be a concern, but they seemed willing to address it.” Liggio stressed that the issue is only being discussed at this point. “I haven’t started anything formal on it,” Liggio said. “It’s still in the talking stages.”
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