Council passes motion to suspend off-lea

Council passes motion to temporarily suspend off-leash dog fines at Marshall Fields

Feb 11, 2019 | 8:10 PM

The issue of allowing dogs off-leash on Marshall Fields once again became a hot topic at Monday’s city council meeting after council voted on temporarily suspending fines for dogs caught off leash in certain areas of the park.

The vote came after Coun. Scott Anderson pushed for an amendment to the original motion to suspend enforcement until an environmental assessment is completed.

” I would just hate to see it drag on indefinitely, ” said Anderson.

City staff told council that the best time to get an environmental assessment done would be June, which had some councilors wondering if suspending enforcement for months would allow irresponsible dog owners to get away with their behavior.

” I think we will have more issues than we have now because people will think that the whole area is off leash, I know that is not the case with a lot of them but there are owners out there who aren’t responsible and it will give them more of an excuse to let their dogs on the fields thinking the whole area is off leash” said Coun. Mund who urged council to stay with the original motion and continue to look for solutions like putting up a fence that would keep off-leash dogs away from the playing fields.

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Coun. Mund also suggested the city look at other parcels of land for an off leash dog park, adding that dogs and sports don’t mix.

Coun. Gares echoed Mund’s concerns stating that the concern still lies with those who don’t follow the rules.

” We all understand that with the sports fields there are no dogs allowed but there are always the relatively few that just ignore those rules, so I’m not 100 % certain that this is the right decision but I do agree we should be waiting for that environmental assessment.”

The motion to suspend fines for dogs in Marshall Fields was passed 4- 3 with Coun. Akbal Mund; Kari Gares, and Kelly Fehr opposed.

Dogs are still prohibited from being on the playing fields and the disc golf area of the park regardless of if they are on or off leash.