brewster wrote:
Quote:

parkman wrote:
I also stated that D works only if the large run can be extended. Two equal size runs will not accommodate the dog population of HP. The ratio should be closer to 3/4 large to 1/4 small. If the tennis court cannot be shifted to make this possible, you?re better off using B and eliminate the game tables in that location and utilize the entire quadrant for a split run.

The ratio on plan "D" appears to be 60:40, however, comparing ratios without size is not very scientific. Since the Van Vorst run is a total of 4600 sq ft according to a JJ article, then 2/3 of that is 3036. So our "plan D" run at 4391 is 44% larger than Van Vorst's 3036, and the many small dogs have plenty of room too.

What's your problem? Are you really saying to vote against "D" because the ratio isn't to your liking, though the run itself is much larger than Van Vorst's?

brewster wrote:
Maybe a little focusing of this discussion could help.

Here's the plan D pro/con breakdown as I see it. Can anyone add to either list?

Pros:

1 - The dog runs are physically separated, which Parkman say reduces aggressive barking through the fence of a divided run.

PhillyGirl wrote:
Parkman: A few of us do little bits around the edges but fear officially volunteering and the commitment that might entail. This leads me to my comments of the day:

1. As a dog owner, I frequent all of the areas of VVP where we are allowed. Sometimes my dog pees and poops. I ALWAYS pick up the poop immediately and I do my best to keep the dog from peeing on the flowers. But I do not stop him from peeing around the edges of the park or at the base of trees. He's not a big fan of the dog run and he's always gotta go before we get there anyway. And, although you can usually keep a dog from peeing in a certain place, it is almost impossible to make them pee on command.

Anyway, my real point is that as I generally have several plastic bags with me, I almost always pick up litter and even strange dog poops within the vicinity of where my does goes. Sometimes, I even spend our whole walk meandering around the park picking up trash. I can tell you that I have seen other dog owners use their plastic bags in this manner. I can also say that I have NEVER seen a parent with a child do anything of the sort. There will always be bad actors and the best we can do is minimize their damage and chip in to clean up after them. Maybe if the parents did this too, the park would be cleaner for everyone.

2. Parkman, in my haphazard way of "contributing," I emptied the poop trash in the dog run the other day and put in a new trash bag. This task, which is obviously gross in any instance, was made quite a bit more gross because the metal mechanisms inside the waste station caught and ripped the trash bag -- right through to the poop. It was very hard to get the bag out without smearing poop everywhere. Has this happened to others? It is my opinion that the metal circular things that are supposed to keep the trash bag up are more of a nuisance than a help. If this has happened to others, perhaps we should consider an alternative method for securing the bags. Just a thought/suggestion, not a demand of any sort.

Thanks again for all of your hard work!
First of all, thank you for helping around the park.

PG

cutiepie wrote:
As someone who walks throught the Park at least twice a day, I am astonished by the number of dog owners who continue allow their dogs to deficate and urinate in the Van Vorst Park. I thought the dog run was built to alleviate this type of activity.

Dog owners, please be considerate of those of us who have children who play on the grass.

Mr_X wrote:
it's your basement's design that's faulty, not the sewer.

If you have floor drains in your basement, installing a floating floor drain plug will keep the floor drain pipe from backing up.

Any basement flooding will cause the float to rise and plug the drain.

cm4cd wrote:
Guys....i dont care if u give developers 20 year pilots and rape me with city property taxes....but can you please PROVIDE THE F**KING BASICS.

Everyone on my block with a basement is now wading in 3ft+ of sewage because you guys cannot get the simple sh*t right.

Tenth street is now a river. And you've approved umpteen additional properties in the area without any consideration to sewage.

Sort this sh*t out NOW PLEASE.

Mr_X wrote: Its raining. Take a look out in the dog run toilet these next few days and you will see a nasty cesspool of urine and feces.
Drainage requires grading, catch basins, and somewhere for the water to go. This dog park has none of that.
This is not only disgusting. It poses a real danger to the health and safety of anyone in and around the park. With the increasing number of dogs in the park it is only going to get worse.
When is real drainage going to be installed?

jessicapuppy wrote:
Ok, I have read this big old thread about the dog run. My wife and I (Asa & Jessica)and MIA are the ones mainly responsible for the dog run.

RABBITRABBIT wrote:
Quote:

parkman wrote:

And I?m surprised you haven?t spotted the typo in the run, very disappointing.

I haven't seen the typos in the signs at the park since I haven't gone to the run lately-- not since my dog was attacked there. Seems like a lot of people who arent from the neighb are driving in from Journal Sq or pavonia and bringing their dogs there. That's cool and all , but it simply means there are more dogs there than this little run can handle (especially since you've sliced it into two sections , one of which is hardly used as I predicted). So many dogs in such a small place increases the possibility of a fight and in my case it happened to be my dog who became the latest victim - so we avoid. Besides, since your drainage system is a farce (we heard it from the city folks themselves) the place reeks of urine and will continue to do so and I'm not interested in bringing all that smell and disease back home (coupled with the grit in my floorboards).

But I have heard that you've been a police force of one - actually running across the street after 10 pm to shoo people out of "the run that you built". If it's after 10pm and the dogs are barking, be my guest. But if someone is there ALONE and the dog is quiet, stay in your own home you little hitler.

You built this bed, now lie in it. You should have let sleeping dogs lie.

RABBITRABBIT wrote:

By the way parkie: All the friggin signs are making this victorian park look like a friggin war zone. can't they be a little more subdued?

Australian wrote:
It sounds like 'teething problems' for users and residents, which will sort it's self out in the long run.

RABBITRABBIT wrote:
Quote:

parkman wrote:
Quote:

RABBITRABBIT wrote:
Parkie -- what's with the urine absorbing volcanic ash covered dog run? It smells liek a friggin litter box and it's not even summer yet. Guess you were sold a load of (turkish) shite.

Don?t use the run, keep the dogs on a leash while in the park, stay off the pet free areas, help me deal with crapkins, and we stay good enemies for life.

Maybe the lavender and roses we?ll be planting on May 5th (want to help?) will divert your sensitive orifices from what dogs in great numbers tend to produce in an enclosed space.

it's funny how the run became the hidden tool you have used to allow you to put up all the other signs int he park restricting usage. what the hell is with the 6 foot leash restriction. dickwad.

as for the urine smell comment - why do immediately retort with "don't use the run". you sound so defensive! i am just commenting that the super-surface you touted before you bought it as odor-absorbing seems to be odor retaining. funny how you get so uppity, you old mess. perhaps you should have done your homework...... and by the way, what's with the forgotten bluestone?

RABBITRABBIT wrote:
Parkie -- what's with the urine absorbing volcanic ash covered dog run? It smells liek a friggin litter box and it's not even summer yet. Guess you were sold a load of (turkish) shite.

bdlaw wrote:
My girlfriend took our dog to the run the other day and wonders why there is no "airlock" entrance.

Just curious.

jim399 wrote:
Please Stop Cutting Down Trees in JC

This is a plea to all residents and property owners in Hamilton Park and Downtown, particularly those in the region of the park and the block bordered by Erie, Jersey, and Sixth and Seventh Streets. Folks ? please stop cutting down trees in our neighborhood.

This interior of this block alone has lost four major trees (all at least three floors high) and several minor ones, mainly from the properties in the vicinity of 238 Sixth Street. Yes, one of these trees was ailing, but the rest were not. A decent sized tree was lost from the backyard of the Jasco-operated building on Erie Street (and then the yard was paved over ? classy!). And the Polish community center at the corner of Jersey and Sixth trimmed the trees on its lot so that they look like branchless sticks. Last year Erie Street lost one of its major trees from the sidewalk in front of that property that is constantly under renovation (you know, the one with the makeshift wooden staircase). Then, before winter, the trees of Hamilton Park were all trimmed in such an amateurish manner it looks like a joke ? some of those trees are more than four floors high but they only have two branches. St. Mary?s Church on Third Street took down the large trees in front of its building, and has yet to replace them. And there are countless empty or paved-over tree pits that the J.C. Division of Parks and Deforestry is, of course, doing nothing about.

I don?t know what it is that makes people dislike trees so much. But if you?d like to know what the city would look or feel like without them, take the PATH to Newark ? they got rid of their trees a long time ago.

In the meantime, please remember that aside from being the only cure for global warming, trees offer us some direct economic benefits:

- Trees lower the water table when their roots suck water out of the ground, and they lessen flood risk because their leaves slow, or stop, water from reaching the ground in heavy rain. (Given that we live on a flood plain at sea level less than a mile from the river, those two points are something we should think seriously about.)
- Trees provide shade in our increasingly hot summers.
- Trees actually cool the air around them in hot weather because the water inside their branches and leaves remains cooler than the air around them ? thus sucking heat out of the air and lowering the AC bills of any building in their shade.
- Trees are good for real estate prices ? ever wondered why upscale neighborhoods are often described as ?leafy?? It isn?t a coincidence.
- Trees just look good.

Thanks.

NONdowntown wrote:
hey out of curiosity, are either of these systems the "pipe" systems i've seen used in older homes? or are they duct systems in walls/ceilings?

djh101 wrote:
Parkman is partially right as far as Air-A-Ton is concerned.

Only Eric and his father (the co-proprietors) and maybe Victor (their lead installer) go to certification programs. The rest of the guys --- many of which are simply employed there by virtue of being their relatives --- are dimwits.

I have used Air-A-Ton on two different (and pretty big) projects, and they are outright unreliable on honoring appointments and doing things in the proper pecking order. On one job, my wife and I had to actually do some of the HVAC work ourselves because they were more than a week overdue in showing up to do it as promised, and thus my drywallers were being held up from closing the walls as a result.

Before that debacle, I had regrettably already referred Air-A-Ton to my next door neighbor (who is an accomplished architect and thus more knowledgable than most on HVAC systems), and he had a worse time than I.

The problem is that Unico (and maybe Luxaire too) offers exclusive territories, and so Air-A-Ton was the "only game in town" if you wanted that particular system. My neighbor ultimately pitched a fit directly with Unico HQ and basically said "your territory rep sucks.....give me the name of the next closest installer or you can yank your partially-installed system out of here." He got the result he wanted, because some other designated outfit completed the job that Air-A-Ton started.

I never want them on any of my properties or projects again --- so much so that I GLADLY paid a little more for a service plan from another designated dealer of those same HVAC systems, just to not have to deal with Air-A-Ton again.

Tim wrote:
I am considering putting central air in an old townhouse this year. The house has been recently rennovated, but they did not install AC. The house is 3 floors and has no ductwork.

I am interested if anyone has any experience (good or bad) with Integrate Comfort Systems, Inc. (ICS) in Belleville and/or All Seasons Mechanical.

Also - does anyone have a UNICO system in thier house, and, if so, who installed it and would you recommend them?

Many thanks,
Tim

MrWolf wrote:
Thanks again for the update, Parkman.

It is great to see the continued development of JC ..... especially in its interior.

Still, if you or your dogs (and others in the area) feel better, well then, parkman, you have my blessing. I have completed my bitching.

RABBITRABBIT wrote:
Quote:

parkman wrote:
Oh, this one is fun..

Not half as fun as my reply.

Quote:

You have no choice but to capitulate, you?re wrong!

I have plenty of choices, PM. And I am not wrong. but i'll amuse you, lover.

Quote:

I always felt that the run was much too large for the size of our park, but I?m following what the community voted on, in the majority, including the division of the run.

that's your opinion. and i think the run is a great size for the park, but that if it's divided in two, both sides will be too small. you can't get me to change my mind. it is what it is. so save some of the precious money you can't seem to raise and forget about the middle fence. no one wants it. go take a poll with the people who are enjoying the dog run every morning, after work and at night. not many want your stupid divider. but if it goes up so bee it. i can still think it's too small and i can still voice my opinion. and i will . it's america, dude.

Quote:

As I?ve told you before, we will be replacing the trees that were removed due to them being diseased..

ha! we'll both be dead before that happens. a new tree will never survive in a pit of dog urine and you know it. and if those trees WERE diseased, you might as well take all the trees in VVP out. they all looked exactly the same. funny how the only ones removed were the ones "in the way" and they were removed juts BEFORE you started breaking ground. c'mon james patterson, write some more fiction.

Quote:

As I have also told you, the fence contractor will repair the damage the City caused to the garden fences, gratis, as a favor to us..

Well that would be a surprise and a nice one at that - but you never told me that. you only said that you, too, were dissappointed. good work, you old fossil.

Quote:

Hate the surface, hate me..

i

don't hate you, lover. but i do hate the surface and i think you and your cronies made a miserable choice. you obviously are not DOG OWNERS. the problems caused by that surface in cleanliness of our homes and dogs strips some of the bennies of park cosmetics. my dog threw that shit up this afternoon after chewing on a ball incased in it. you obviously couldnt have known, but who ever you hired should have. if i was Trump I would have fired you a long time ago.

Quote:

Next time, you try dealing with the City and get something completed on time. You?re fortunate that it has gotten this far..

I don't start something I can't finish. And I am certainly smart enough not to think I could get something of that magniture done in JC with this f'd up government. You're either a moron for taking this on, or a martyr.

Quote:

Standing by you?re comments, puts you on one leg..

I don't really understand that comment, but you spelled "you're" wrong.

Quote:

And, last but certainly not lest , you would be so lucky!

Ditto. If you can still rise to the occasion.

RABBITRABBIT wrote:
no capitulation.

just that my dog likes it and that makes me happy. still he is dirtier than he was before the run. he won't pick up a ball cause all that grit is all over it. and he shits the stuff the surface is made of (recycling?). and i don't think it'll be good for him. but i could be wrong.

let me be clear so no-one thinks i am back peddling.

i originally thought the run should be in a less used quadrant of the park.
i do not think it should be split in two cause i think both sections will be too small.
i hate that trees came down in the making of the run.
i hate that the city crushed garden fences in building the dame thing.
i hate the surface.

and i doubted it would ever get made. on that i admit my error (although it took far longer than promised and still aint done.)

i stand by ALL my comments.

and that you might be one of the best lays i;'ve had in a long time.