The Town of Minden has offered $420,000 to buy a strip of land behind the Douglas County School District’s Mono Avenue offices, hoping to turn it into a new off-leash dog park for Carson Valley.

Town board members approved the offer on June 3, but the sale still needs sign-off from the Douglas County School Board, which owns the property, reports the Record-Courier.

The town set aside $500,000 for a new dog park after rejecting a $638,475 bid for a different site at Seeman Pond in October 2025.

The lawn behind the school district’s Mono Avenue building, the historic 1918 Minden Grammar School, became the town’s next choice after officials decided against a plan to take over the entire property.

School board trustees ultimately chose to keep the building as district offices rather than sell it outright, since the site had been vacated in August 2025 for an infestation of bats and bees that required cleanup.

Town board member Bill Driscoll, a longtime advocate for a Minden dog park, welcomed the alternative plan.

“I’ve been an advocate of a dog park for a long time,” Driscoll said. “I think this alternative is perfect.”

Former Town Board member Matt Bernard said he supported the project if it would reduce the number of dogs currently being walked and let off-leash in Minden Park.

Carson Valley already has two existing off-leash dog parks, the K9 Korral across Grant Avenue from Walmart and another at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, but neither sits within Minden’s town center.

Dog owners in Douglas County can keep track of the sale and any groundbreaking timeline through upcoming Minden Town Board meetings, where the school board’s decision on the offer is expected to be discussed.