Page 10 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, MAy 3, 2024 Softball Sachems Fall Behind to Revere, 16-14 Making it safely to third base for Saugus, Kaitlyn Pugh. Angelina Dow at bat for Saugus, making contact with the ball. Alannah Duong of Saugus slides into home plate during the Sachem’s match up with Revere Tuesday. Devany Millerick makes contact with the ball during Tuesday’s game. Alannah Duong looks to take off from third base as the ball is pitched. On the mound for Saugus Tuesday, Taylor Deleidi. Senior Kaitlyn Pugh slides into third base during Tuesday’s game with Revere. Senior Ava Rogers makes her way past third base, before pausing on the baseline. Lily Ventre at bat for Saugus. The Saugus softball team cheers on their teammates during Tuesday’s game with Revere. Leading off first base for Saugus, Felicia Alexander. (Advocate photos by Emily Harney) The Stocker Dog park proposal draws mostly negative feedback from residents By Mark E. Vogler A s the lead-off speaker at Monday’s forum on a proposed dog park in the area of Stocker Playground, Julie Mills professed her love for dogs and her strong support for a dog park. “I am owned by two dogs,” the Saugus woman said. “I’m 100 percent in favor of a dog park. We need it. A dog park is a great meeting place,” she added But Mills spent the rest of her time at the lectern at the second floor auditorium of Town Hall explaining her vociferous opposition to a dog park at the proposed site. “Stocker is not the place for a dog park.” Mills expressed her concerns that a dog park at the proposed site of the rundown basketball and tennis court posed a potential threat to the Saugus River and the wetlands. She also raised the issue of potential health hazards for children using the playground and concerns about an adverse impact on the eagles. Mills was one of about a dozen people who spoke during Monday’s forum hosted by the town’s informal dog park committee, with Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree chairing the forum. Most of the people who spoke were opposed to the dog park being located at Stocker Playground. The purpose of the forum was to update the public on plans for locating a dog park in Saugus and a specific proposal to transform the basketball court and tennis court into a dog park. A representative of Warner Larson Landscape Architects presented copies of the “Saugus Dog Park Concept Design,” dated April 29, the date of Monday’s forum. The plan noted: ● The Dog Park as proposed would have separate places for large and small dogs. ● The park would provide a water source. ● The dog park will be fenced in with double entry gate access. ● The overall square footage would be 32,130 or .74 acres. ● The park would include a dog pool, pet fountain and shower station. “I really think this would be a betterment to the community in this area,” Crabtree told the audience, which numbered close to 100 people. “It’s an underutilized area,” he said. The town manager said the proposed dog park project would not increase flooding in the area. Future plans include improving the playground area for children and the baseball park, according to Crabtree. “The idea is to bring life back in the park,” he said. Monday’s meeting was strictly to get public feedback on the proposal. Crabtree said his office is interested in further public comment about the proposal. The dog park committee, which had several of its members seated with Crabtree at a table in front of the audience, is working on a potential grant to fund the project. Crabtree said there is no timetable for the proposal and said no decision has been made on a final site for a Saugus dog park. However, committee members said they looked at a dozen sites throughout Saugus and determined that StockDOG PARK | SEE PAGE 11
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