At Monday's City Council meeting, the Parks and Recreation Commission is set to recommend to the council a dog-related use and maintenance plan for Memorial Park.
The commission worked on the plan with the Dog Ad Hoc Committee since June.
As part of the recommended plan, dogs would be allowed in Section B—the section of the park mainly used by dogs – from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. everyday. A “Good Neighbor” sign would also potentially be posted in that section of the park. Dogs would be banned from Section A—the area of the park generally designated for sports—at all times.
Albany police would enforce the hours, "as the officers are the only city personnel with the authority to enforce the city’s municipal codes,” according to city staff reports. Park-goers would be encouraged to self-monitor, but if an unresolvable conflict arose, the police would need to be called.
“This has been an emotional issue that has included the feeling that residents and park users’ quality of life has been or could be negatively impacted,” according to the staff report.
Residents who live near the park have had ongoing problems with dogs at the park including dog barking and fights, damaged fields and a lack of parking in their neighborhood due to “dog park” visitors. Dog owners have defended their use of the park, saying it is a place to exercise and socialize their pets.
Staff has also looked into Section B lawn maintenance and will recommend additional reseeding throughout the year. The field would require closure for about three months a year for the grass to regenerate. Albany fields are typically closed for two months each year for the same reason. The Section B closure would probably happen from November to March, according to staff reports.
The plan's financial impact to the city would be about $2,000 annually, mainly for lawn maintenance, with a one-time $1,000 cost to reconfigure the irrigation system in the park’s Section B, according to the reports.
*See Patch's look into Memorial Park's dog dilemma and more coverage.
Click the "Keep me posted" button below this story for an email update when we write about dog issues in Albany. See the rules for the fenced area at Memorial Park here.
There should also be a good neighbor sign pointing across the streets to remind people that dog owners ARE allowed in the area. While I applaud the expanded hours, I'm really don't understand the split hours on Saturdays, when dogs were allowed for a full block of 10-6 under current rules.
The City of Albany Park department has performed NO maintenance inside the fenced area for over 3 years. The sprinkler are very tired, and the heads need replacement. This has been mentioned by those that actually DO maintain the area (The Albany Little League; which is paid $1800.-/mo. for mowing, and water management; but sprinkler maintenance belongs on the City - not them). They seed and water with a hose in their Diamond area; while there has been NO correct seeding in Area B since the winter of 2010 (according to the Little League). Area B IS suffering from NO GRASS, but it is in areas that receive NO WATER. Then, in immediately adjacent areas there is TOO MUCH water.... again, the sprinklers are at fault. Complaints regarding this for the past year and a half have only RECENTLY been acknowledge and addressed by Penelope Leach, and for some reason she wants $1k to do what she should have been doing for the past 3 years: maintain the sprinklers!
I'm weary of assuming ownership for your impact. Thanks for letting me off the hook!
Dog Owners in Albany ARE tax-payers; we voted an increased tax upon ourselves because WE EXPECT BETTER. We have higher expectations for services from the Park Department. We did not, for example, do it simply in order to pay off $600k for an ill-conceived (but well meant) study of land use for the Race Track Parking lot.