Dog owners rejoice, a new canine-friendly recreation area in East County looks to be on the horizon following the latest Grays Harbor County Commissioners meeting.

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the county commissioners unanimously approved a Notice of Award bid for the construction of a new dog park to be located at Vance Creek County Park. The Elma-based project was greenlit for a bid that will cost north of a quarter million dollars, an amount that increased by more than double when talks of the project first began.

“When we started, this project was $100,000 back then but due to inflation and the time that has passed, we got three bids on this project and the low bid was $251,000,” said Mark Cox, the Director of Utilities, Facilities, and Community Development for Grays Harbor County. “We still feel that this is a very much needed and warranted project and that the public has shown a lot of support for having a dog park at Vance Creek.”

The $251,998 bid was awarded to Brumfield Construction, Inc. due to their December 2022 proposal being less expensive than Rognlin’s, Inc. and Five Rivers Construction, Inc. offers of $255,000 and $257,505, respectively.

Although the project has been approved, it is still unclear as to when the construction of the new dog park will commence or what amenities the dog park will have as of press time.

“We haven’t worked out a start date for the contractors as of yet, but we are in the process of figuring that out,” said Maggie McDougall, an Administrative Assistant for Utilities, Facilities, and Community Development for Grays Harbor County.

As Cox spoke to the county commissioners, he said with the increased price of the project, there would need to be work done to adjust the county budget to appropriately allocate money for the project, which will likely happen at the next commissioner’s meeting. According to Cox, around $145,000 was returned to the county budget during 2022 which would help with the project finances.

While it is unknown when the dog park will be available for the community to enjoy in full, canine owners don’t have to travel far to let their four-legged friends roam with excitement. According to Google Maps, exactly 3.5 miles away from where the Vance Creek County Park dog is set to be built, is the Martin Family Dog Park which opened in October 2022 for the community to enjoy for free.

Contact Reporter Allen Leister at 360-463-3572 or allen.leister@thedailyworld.com