Public Policy: Citizens took it upon themselves to ‘enhance’ canine park. Park officers say they went too far.

A pack of 4 or 5 dogs and their house owners sit within the Bark Park on the Roger Short Soccer Complex close to downtown, enjoyable round a hearth in a barrel below string lights hanging from the timber.

The group, related by their dogs and a Facebook Page, introduced all of these things to the canine park and left them there to make use of, group member Chuck Newell mentioned. Over the previous six weeks or so, because the climate cooled and the park bought darker earlier within the day, he mentioned the group gathered round a barrel hearth below the makeshift lighting almost each day.

Sometimes, they even roast marshmallows. The group hosted a doggie Easter egg hunt and has introduced a kiddie pool throughout summer season months to assist dogs keep cool.

“By the time we get home (from work), it’s dark,” Newell mentioned. “We got a fire going. We got the lights up. I’ve got a generator in the back of the truck. I plug the lights up. We’re usually gone by 6 or 6:30 (p.m.).”

The downside: Leaving private gadgets isn’t allowed on the park, and it closes to the general public “at dusk,” which throughout fall and winter doesn’t give sufficient time for customers to run their dogs after work within the evenings.

While Newell mentioned he and his mates are “just taxpayers trying to upgrade the doggy park to suit ourselves,” a discover from the county and a go to from Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office deputies put an finish to those additions on Tuesday afternoon.

The discover, posted on timber within the park and dated on Jan. 2, mentioned all third-party gadgets needed to be faraway from the canine park inside 24 hours.

Lowndes County Deputy Recreation Director Tom Velek mentioned the division posted the notices as a result of threat of damage and legal responsibility for the county, as open flames within the canine park pose a threat to dogs and people alike.

“There were also a lot of liquor bottles down there, so obviously people were down there turning it into kind of a personal party area with a fire going,” Velek instructed The Dispatch on Wednesday afternoon. “They set up a place for wood storage, in the trees they … put up some electrical (lights). But the biggest issue is that we can’t have open flames, especially during one of the worst droughts in the history of Mississippi.”

After he noticed the notices, Newell mentioned he constructed one other hearth Tuesday with the hopes of having fun with it one final time earlier than eradicating the barrel and different gadgets from the park inside the time restrict.

But a couple of minutes after the fireplace began, Lowndes County sheriff’s deputies drove up. One bought out and checked Newell’s identification, whereas a handful of different park goers appeared on. Then, the deputy demanded he put out the fireplace, and he complied.

Other than the posted notices he first noticed Tuesday, Newell mentioned nobody with the county had mentioned something to him in regards to the fires and lights till the deputies arrived.

The hearth, lights and different gadgets lending a extra private atmosphere to the park got here in response to the group’s lengthy unanswered requests for modifications, mentioned Kenedi Marini, who regularly visits the park along with her dogs, Gianni and Gino.

Marini mentioned she spoke with Velek in June, then-interim recreation director, requesting his division clear up damaged glass on the bottom and higher preserve the usually inoperable water fountains. She mentioned group members cleaned up the park themselves, whereas nothing has been executed but in regards to the water fountains.

Later, Marini mentioned she requested further lighting, because the canine park feels unsafe through the evenings.

“The last thing I said to Tom Velek was that I can definitely point people in your direction if they have requests or complaints,” Marini mentioned.
When time handed and no lights have been put in, the canine park group went forward and put up their very own lights and different gadgets to maintain the park usable, Marini mentioned.

A public security problem

When Lowndes County Recreation Director Jennifer Claybrook’s workplace acquired a name that there was a hearth on the canine park on Tuesday afternoon, she mentioned she referred to as the sheriff’s workplace.

“My thing was that there was an open flame, and that is a concern,” mentioned Claybrook, who started main the division in November. “… Being in an administrative role, I felt like that was the best course of action not to send myself or one of our employees. I don’t want to escalate it. I just wanted them to not have a fire out there.”

She mentioned her name was not primarily based on imposing particular county ordinances or departmental insurance policies, however slightly, concern for public security.

County Administrator Jay Fisher mentioned he’s not conscious of any ordinances banning fires or third-party gadgets on county property, although Columbus legal guidelines could apply to the canine park, as a result of it being within the metropolis. Departmental insurance policies most frequently regulate what’s allowed on county property, together with parks, he mentioned.

While these insurance policies and guidelines aren’t legal guidelines, Fisher mentioned sometimes, county regulation enforcement could also be referred to as to county property to assist with disturbances and considerations for public security.

Official channels for change

Velek and Claybrook each mentioned they have been pleased residents have been utilizing the canine park and having fun with these amenities, however modifications must undergo the right channels.

“We have to strike a balance between being a public facility for the public to use, but we’re not a public facility for the public to renovate,” Velek mentioned.

The recreation division does have a facility use coverage in place, which applies to civic organizations and outdoors businesses. This coverage consists of restrictions on leaving private belongings on the park and making everlasting alterations, additions or modifications to division property.

Claybrook mentioned she doesn’t at present know of a permitted burning course of for the parks division, although she is trying into it.

When it involves lighting, Velek mentioned he introduced the problem increased up by means of administration. However, when he acquired a quote for lighting within the park, the value tag got here again at $90,000.

Velek mentioned he’s speaking with Columbus Light and Water to increase street-level parking over the park as a lower-cost various to the unique bid. He can be working to put in cement pads below the water fountains on the park.

Claybrook mentioned that the recreation division is evaluating all of its insurance policies, procedures and signage, together with its web site, to assist the parks swimsuit residents’ wants. Suggestions, she mentioned, are welcome, although they could not at all times be doable as a result of finances constraints and different considerations.

“We’re so excited about Lowndes County and where we’re going, and we love the dog park and we love having people up there and enjoying it,” Claybrook mentioned. “We are here to listen and we want to make it the best venue we can. But it also has to be within guidelines.”

The use coverage is available on-line on the division’s web site at below “Files.” Other guidelines and laws on the canine park are additionally available on the web site.

Suggestions will be despatched to both [email protected] or [email protected]Claybrook mentioned, or residents can name the division’s foremost line at (662) 328-0885.