THE "SCOOP" ON ARROYO SECO'S NEWS:
NO SCOOP REQUIRED. IT'S ALL "IN THE BAG"

Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council & Friends of Hermon Dog Park
Team Up to Make the Council's Namesake Waterway Cleaner

"Yappy Bark-Day" -- the 1-year "birthday" of the park

July 27, 2006 -- Since the opening of Los Angeles' ninth dog park, in the Northeast community of Hermon, the city-supplied "pooper scoopers" have been too few, and were often stolen from this off-leash dog exercise area that runs alongside the eastern bank of the lower Arroyo Seco. 

On Saturday, July 29, representatives of the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council (ASNC) will join Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar in a "first" for communities along the arroyo, by "inaugurating" the use of neighborhood council-funded permanent dispensers filled with pet waste bags installed at critical locations in and near the now year-old dog park in Hermon. The brief ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m., as part of the "Yappy Bark-Day" one-year celebration of the opening of the facility.

Working on the request from then-ASNC board member Jeff Chapman, Watershed Coordinator for the Arroyo Seco Foundation the ASNC purchased the dispensers and supplies of the refillable bags.

The Arroyo Seco stream is listed in the Clean Water Act as an impaired waterbody, explained Chapman, and at least part of the impairment is believed to be bacteria from pet waste.

"Hermon Dog Park is a perfect location to provide an opportunity for dog owners to 'do the right thing' regarding water quality," said Chapman.

After the ASNC overwhelmingly voted to approve the purchase, dispensers filled with biodegradable litter bags were placed at four strategic locations, -- one in each of the dog park's exercise areas (for large and small/shy dogs), one next to the main entrance from the park into the arroyo streambed, and one in a portion of the larger Hermon Park alongside the historic Arroyo Seco Parkway (110 Freeway), where dog owners also take their dogs. 

The installation of the dispensers in the park area was coordinated by the "Friends of Hermon Dog Park," -- a non-profit support group for the dog park - which arranged with the City's Department of Recreation and Parks to install them permanently in concrete.  Each dispenser rests under a sign encouraging park and arroyo visitors to care for the local environment and pick up after their dogs, thereby improving water quality.

The ASNC, comprised of five "streamside" communities along the council's namesake arroyo (in addition to Hermon, Mount Washington, Montecito Heights, Sycamore Grove, and Monterey Hills), as a result, became the first local community to take such proactive steps along the waterway (nearby Pasadena is planning similar installations).

One of the original sponsors of the concept of placing an off-leash dog exercise area in the Hermon community, the ASNC has long held environmental concerns as a high priority, and from its certification by the City of Los Angeles in 2002, included on its 19-member advisory board an "environmental representative" as an elected board position. (Mount Washington environmentalist Jerry Schneider has been elected to this position each of the last three years -- Schneider and ASNC President Jim Thompson will also take part in this first-of-its-kind "opening" of the dispensers on July 29). 

The local council has also dedicated significant amounts of it annual community improvements budget from the city to environmental projects like this, along with funding for school projects, and beautification efforts.

Friends of Hermon Dog Park (www.HermonDogPark.com), created to support maintenance and improvements at the dog park and promote its use, was established last year as a non-profit organization by original members of the Hermon Dog Park Formation Committee and other local animal and community activists around the Arroyo Seco.  The effort to create an off-leash dog park in Hermon traces back to the formation period of the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council, four years ago.

Directions to Hermon Dog Park:  located off Via Marisol, just east of the Arroyo Seco Parkway (110 Freeway).  Enter the park entrance and drive to the end of the parking area, walk under the Avenue 60 overpass, and you're there!