Park Pals, the volunteer-driven group responsible for creating the city’s first off-leash dog park at French Lake Park, was honored by the Federal Way City Council on Feb. 7.

Park Pals president JoAnn Hugill, along with a number of her volunteers, were praised at Tuesday’s council meeting for their impact on Federal Way.

“They are an excellent example of the ways citizens can help identify a community need, and take actions to address that need,” Councilwoman Susan Honda said. “Park Pals voiced the need for Federal Way to have an off-leash dog park. They also did something that I greatly admire. They helped provide a solution.”

Honda commended Park Pals on their willingness to perform upkeep on the park, given the budgetary constraints the city faces with park staff. Honda also congratulated them on their acquisition of a water fountain in the park that serves both humans and dogs.

Hugill shared some of Park Pal’s upcoming plans. A work party is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 at the park, located on 1st Avenue South between South 320th and South 312th streets.

“(The city) is very busy cleaning up all the parks after the snowstorm, so we’re going to have a work party this weekend to pick up all of the limbs,” Hugill said. “If anyone has a wheelbarrow or two, that would be great.”

Hugill said the Park Pals have started a tribute garden for pets who have died. Along with that, their next big project is to create a shelter of some sort at the park, so owners have somewhere to stand out of the rain. Two other projects include getting a boot scraper installed at the park, and adding quarry sand in some of the park’s more muddy areas.

“We’re going to keep the ball rolling, we’re going to keep fundraising and improving the park,” Hugill said.

To learn more about Park Pals, visit www.parkpals.org.