Valerie Williams, left, and Mary Jane Parrish, right, at the Mountain Brook pre council meeting on May 9, 2023. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Boss was back at Mountain Brook City Hall on May 8. The English cream golden retriever was quiet during the pre-council meeting as his owner and others lobbied for dogs to be allowed roam the city’s athletic fields again.
Teresa Callahan and her pet were at a pre-council meeting in August 2022 as some residents complained about dogs being on the fields. Ultimately, the council banned dogs from those green spaces.
“I believe the reason that we were banned is because a few people are irresponsible and don't pick up their poop,” Callahan said. “We all want to come up with some type of compromise to get back on those fields. The community is part of those school fields, the green spaces around these schools.”
Jim Parrish and his wife Mary Jane moved to the Crestline community, partly enticed by the sight of dogs frolicking on the Crestline athletic field.
“There were all these dogs and people and they were acting like they were having fun,” he recalled. “I thought that looks like a great community to be involved in so we decided to make the move.”
Parrish said the couple was out of town last fall when the discussion began about dogs on city fields, which yielded the ban.
“I went from loving Crestline to not loving it so much when I saw that,” he said.
Council members recounted reasons that had been weighed in establishing the ban. Some people weren’t collecting the poop of their pets and some children were frightened of dogs.
Council President Virginia Smith acknowledged that while the people attending the meeting are cleaning up, there are some “bad apples out there” who are not.
“We were hearing from the schools having to send children home (or trying to) reach parents to bring new clothes,” she said of students who were soiled by the dog waste.
Frank Taylor of Mountain Brook Athletics said the youth sports organization tried to cooperate and share the space as much as possible.
“We just want to provide a safe outlet for our kids to play,” he said, citing instances of dogs defecating on the field. “(There was) more than one occasion where kids are sliding through poop… and that's pretty traumatic for a child.”
Dicky Barlow, the superintendent of Mountain Brook Schools, said he’s a dog owner who enjoys walking his dog and letting him off his leash. He also cited accounts from teachers who have dealt with dogs on the school playground.
“They've also had dogs that have been released that have jumped on kids,” he said. “I think one of our teachers even got bitten.”
Parrish suggested Mountain Brook consider a system used at a beach location in Florida. Dog owners pay $100 a year for a permit and their dog must wear a corresponding tag.
“You have to be off the beach by 8:30 in the morning and you can bring them back at 4:30 in the afternoon,” he said, adding that dog owners must clean up after their pet.
Smith, the council president, said a solution wasn’t forthcoming Monday night. She suggested a committee be formed that included dog advocates to attempt to find a happy medium.
During the council meeting:
- SERVPRO of Birmingham was hired to fix the damage from a burst waterline in the first-floor ceiling of O’Neal Library.
- The council agreed to a property swap with the Mountain Brook Board of Education. The Tot Lot will be deeded to the city and Crestline Field to the school system. That swap could be made official at the next council meeting.
- The city agreed to support Birmingham’s pursuit of a TAP grant to install sidewalks from Vulcan Park to English Village. The Red Mountain Cut Foundation and the Jefferson County Commission also support the effort.
- Mayor Stewart H. Welch III read a proclamation denoting the week as National Police Officer Appreciation Week.
The next regular meeting of the city council will be at 7 p.m. on May 22.
