Rescue Robby (left) and Grand Marshal Gary (right). Photo by Catherine Stachowiak
Locals may be wondering what ever happened to the Kernville Happy Tails Dog Park, which the community contributed for, when SOS Dog Rescue founder Robbie Miller and
founder of the Kern River Conservancy, Gary Ananian ran for Whiskey Flat Days mayor.
Monday, October 28, at the Kernville Chamber of Commerce meeting, Ananian, who is now vice president of the chamber, told the board he had two bids on the dog park construction. The lowest bid he had was $40,000.
However the Kern County Planning Department has sent him bill, after bill, after bill without end. He has told County Supervisor Phillip Peters’ Field Director, Cody Criswell that he has questions about these constant bills, and had not gotten any answers. Ananian hoped Criswell would look into the matter.
Ananian heard suggestions from the chamber board for ideas about raising more money. He said, “My goal is to apply for the Parks Grant from the State (of California) in the spring. That one is usually about two or $3 million we can apply for. I’d rather we do that because we could do everything at once. So then we could completely renovate that entire part, Dog Park, Bike Park, Rodeo, Baseball Field, Pickleball Courts and everything in one shot.”
The Happy Tails Dog Park project still needs fencing and running pipes, from the baseball field to the dog park, for water for the dogs, according to what Ananian told the Kern Valley Sun last summer.
The biggest hurdles Ananian and Miller faced, during initial stages, included modifying and changing the zones to include the dog park. Not changing the zoning of the property would have ended up costing a lot more money.
The project has been held up, at the county level, during approval stages. After Kern County Board of Supervisors finally approved the park, June 18, the project was planned to begin construction after a contractor bidding process. However, afterward bills continued to come in from the county, using up a lot of the funds, which the Whiskey Flat mayor team, Grand Marshal Gary and Rescue Robby worked hard to raise.
