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The city’s canine community will have a new place to run off-leash by this fall.

Council last night approved a resolution establishing a one-year pilot program for a dog run to be located in the eastern quadrant of Library Square Park. The dog run will front on Heck Street, between First and Asbury Avenues. The park itself is east of the public library on Grand Avenue, about two blocks north of the downtown business district. The dog run will not front on Grand Avenue.

The dog park has been in the works since last summer, according to Rachel Hirschfeld, a member of the dog park’s committee. The committee also included local business owner Debbie DeLisa; Shade Tree Commission member Tom Pivinski; city council representative Sue Henderson and city manager Terence Reidy.

Hirschfeld gave a presentation to the council during the workshop session of the meeting.

“Dog parks make surrounding neighborhoods safe,” she said. “Owners of dogs act as a neighborhood watch, significantly reducing crime rates in the surrounding areas and making the neighborhood safe.”

The first phase of the dog park is a pilot program, Hirschfeld said, which consists of designing a plan for the area and erecting a fence. The committee has decided on a five-feet-tall black aluminum fence, which would be powder-coated to prevent rust. It would be reinforced with bars on the bottom to prevent dogs from hurting themselves by trying to escape.

There will also be several pet waste stations in the area, Hirschfeld said.

The committee selected Library Square Park because it has experienced vandalism and a high crime rate, Hirschfeld said, and it is within walking distance to the beach, boardwalk and downtown.

The Asbury Park Historical Society has invested a considerable amount of money in the park. At past meetings, they have expressed frustration at the continued vandalism there.

“Improvement to this one area would lead to improvement of the whole park,” Hirschfeld said. “The park could become a great place to hold different events, a hub of action.”

Library Square Park is divided into four large triangles by gravel walkways. The easternmost triangle — where the dog park would be — is the smallest in area, according to Henderson.

The dog park committee is seeking grants and donations to fund the park. Fencing could cost $20,000 to $50,000, none of which will be paid for by the city, Hirschfeld said. The park will be divided into two parts — one for larger dogs, one for smaller.

The dog park presentation and resolution were not listed on the agenda that was released several days prior to the meeting. This is because the committee had planned to present its plan at the next council meeting, but had to make the presentation last night because of an upcoming deadline for some funding, Reidy said.

City attorney Frederick Raffetto had prepared a resolution for the council to vote on at last night’s meeting allowing the pilot project to terminate on or about Oct. 1, he said, “but through discussions I’ve had with Sue [Henderson] and Rachel [Hirschfeld], we’d like to recommend to expand the length of that to June 6, 2013, at which point if the council wants to make it permanent, they can make it an ordinance,” Raffetto said.

The rules and regulations outlined in the ordinance are similar to those governing the dog beach at North Beach, Raffetto said.

Later in the meeting, the council voted on the resolution after some discussion. Some residents in the audience called out and had to be quieted several times.

Councilman James Bruno asked if the city could start the program with a smaller area, and also asked if the plan could translate into something for children in the park.

“The park is a mess,” Henderson said. “Nobody wants to do anything … If you want to straighten up a park, you have to bring people there. This is phase one. We’re going to fix up the park so that people can use it. [The proposed dog park area] is the smallest section of the park.”

The park will probably be ready for the public in late summer or early fall, Henderson said.

“You’ll see the improvements begin to spread throughout the entire park,” she said. “People will want to go and use the parks if they feel safe. This is just a start.”

The council unanimously approved the resolution.

[CORRECTION: A previous edition of this story erroneously named Don Stine as a member of the dog park committee. Stine is not a member.]

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