HOUGHTON — Houghton continues to evaluate the suitability of a plot of land on Garnet Street for a dog park in the city.

The Department of Public Works is clearing off space east of the playground area and below tennis courts filled in by the city decades ago.

The city has gotten numerous requests over the years for a dog park. However, there have not been properties with a suitable location or grade.

A dog park is only one possibility for the property, City Manager Eric Waara said. A number of logistical and technical issues still have to be looked at: fence heights, rules, double gates, waste receptacles and watering stations. He and others from the city planned to review the site later in the week.

“If there’s the council’s wish or the public’s wish that that’s not the spot, what we will have is an open area to residents to enjoy adjacent to that park, that can be part of that park,” he said.

Councilor Joan Suits asked if other locations had been considered. Waara said the city is looking for something central, walkable and within the neighborhoods. Factors such as the amount of wooded area in the city and its topography limit the number of potential spaces, he said.

Resident Michael LaBeau, who lives nearby on Vivian Street, said, in a letter to the city, he was concerned about the potential for increased noise and traffic at the site, and of dogs leaving the park to enter the adjacent playground or residents’ yards.

In other action, the council:

• Approved an amended version of the sewer agreement with Portage Township passed last year. The revised version states Houghton will have the sole discretion to determine if a Public Act 425 agreement with Portage Township is necessary for any new development to be connected to the Green Acres Road/M-26 system. It also states Houghton and Portage Township shall negotiate in good faith if a PA 425 agreement is needed. Waara said the city was primarily concerned with the impact of large commercial ventures on the sewer system.

• Discussed spring cleanup, which is scheduled for Fridays through Sundays between April 23 and May 30 at the city’s salt storage building on Technical drive and Gundlach Road. Proof of residency is required. Dumpsters will be set up only Friday through Sunday; tonnage has gone up in recent years, which is believed to partially come from people outside the city.

• Approved a Cross Connection Control Program in accordance with Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) requirements. The program regards cross connections, or sections where backflow could occur into the public water supply.

• Approved resolutions required by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. in connection with the city’s pier project. One, a resident anti-displacement relocation form, covers what the city would do with residents displaced by the project. (Moot, in this case, as it would not affect any residential space.) Other resolutions affirmed non-discrimination on the basis of handicap and setting a grievance procedure for anyone wishing to file a complaint on the basis of discrimination.

• Discharged a mortgage at 111 Shelden Avenue. The city had held the mortgage as part of a loan for facade work at the property. The mortgage is being discharged so the closing of a sale can occur. The outstanding loan balance of about $17,000 will be delivered at that time.