Donna Burns along with her dogs, Ali and Jake, wear shirts in support of her cause.

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Dog park organizer Donna Burns is a determined woman. She and her committee have worked for four years drumming up support and identifying locations for a place to take their dogs for additional exercise and socialization with others.

After finding what seemed at the time like a workable location for the proposed park on Atlantic County-owned land on Pine Avenue, the wind was taken out of her sails after Township Committee said it would not support the park at that location and sent her request to the county Board of Freeholders. They in turn said they had no interest in creating a county-run park on the land.

Instead of calling it quits, she and her committee “really listened” and took the defeat as an opportunity to reexamine some of the locations they had initially passed over, including the township-owned Shires Park, a 6½-acre park located behind Home Depot on Ponds Road. She presented the new idea and a draft rendering to Township Committee during its meeting Wednesday, Jan. 24.  Several supporters were in the audience holding signs advocating the project.

“For four years we have been desperately trying to stay optimistic,” she said. “Now, we have new hope.”

Burns said she grew tired of traveling each day after work to Ocean City’s dog park to let her two dogs play.

“Having a backyard is different than going to a dog park,” she said.

During an informal conversation at the meeting, members of Township Committee seemed open to the idea of allowing the dog park committee to use a portion of the park as a dog park. The committee suggested Burns speak with the recreation department and present her idea to it.

On Tuesday, Burns said she had since talked to Robert Lincoln, director of recreation.

“Bob seemed optimistic that we could use the park,” she said. “He said no organized sports play at that location.”

If the details can be pinned down and the project gains full approval by the recreation committee and Township Committee, the organizers would not need to go before the Planning Board for approval since the area is already in use as park, Township Administrator Peter Miller said during the meeting.

“The next step would be to go full force with fundraising,” Burns said. She stopped short of quoting a fundraising goal because the plans for this location are far from final. “It’s a lot less than the Pine Avenue site though. There’s no clearing needed.”

According to the proposal she presented at the meeting, the plans include creating a parking lot that could be used for all Shires Park users, three fenced dog runs and a walking trail around the runs. Her committee would fund the entire project and maintain the park once it is created, she said.

Burns said she would be willing to sign an agreement that if her committee disbands in the future, they would be obligated to take down the fencing and return the park to its original state, leaving the proposed parking lot as a donation to the township.

Committeeman John Carman said he still had questions about liability issues surrounding such a park.

Mayor James “Sonny” McCullough recused himself from the conversation, citing inaccurate letters to the editor of another publication that painted him as against the project.