By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
NORTHFIELD — City Council has decided not to move forward with leasing land to a nonprofit group for creation of a dog park at Birch Grove Park.
City Council President Frank Perri said after consideration, the majority of council is not in favor of the plan.
“I’ve got some reservations about the advisory board not being on board with it,” Perri said, adding that he also does not like the idea of people walking their dogs from the parking lot past the playground to get to the canine enclosure. “I said I would entertain this but now that I see that the advisory board is not in favor of it and the chairman is not in favor of it … ”
But the leader of the nonprofit, the Northfield Dog Park Committee, says the rejection is more about politics than the merits of the plan.
“The no vote wasn’t a no vote for the dog park, it was a no vote for Councilwoman Susan Korngut,” Melanie Brozosky said.
Korngut, who was the initial proponent of the park, was not present in person or online during the meeting Nov. 10, when Perri addressed the issue under “old business” during his report.
Councilman Paul Utts and Councilwoman Barbara Madden wanted to wait until Korngut was present for a vote, but that idea was rejected and there were enough votes to shelf the idea.
Councilman Brian Smith said he was reserving his opinion until he learned more and now, “taking everything into consideration,” cannot support it.
“I’m not opposed to a dog park, necessarily, but I see the point of not putting it in that location, so I would not be in favor at this point in time,” he said.
Most of the others could not be heard on the audio feed of the Zoom meeting well enough to discern what they were saying.
Reached after the meeting, Perri said he initially favored the idea but changed his mind based on several factors. He said the top reason was that the Recreation Advisory Board does not support the idea.
“We’re not happy that the advisory board is not in agreement,” he said. “It would be a slap in the face to that organization. Even though it is an advisory organization, we try to accommodate what they want. They don’t get their way all the time but this was a major issue. By ordinance they are the advisers of what direction they want to see it going.”
Perri also said there are issues with the lease agreement, potential environmental contamination and possible safety issues.
“I don’t think it’s a good fit anymore,” he said. “The majority of this council is not willing to entertain it at this point.”
Perri said the issue could be revisited in the future.
“Maybe another administration — at the first of the year it’s going to change — but right now this group of people is not going to support it,” Perri said.
Brozosky said she most likely would be continuing to pursue the idea.
“I’ll look forward to the new council in 2021 when Frank Perri is not the chair and maybe the person who is the chair will have some leadership skills and we’ll get it done then,” she said. “I think the whole thing was flawed from the beginning and there was just multiple barriers that they put up in order to send Susan a message, and they did. It’s unfortunate for the city of Northfield. I don’t know how anyone wins by not having a dog park in Northfield.”
Perri said the location is the major downside of the plan.
“I know there is a lot of property out there. If it was a stand-alone area it would be different, but when you think about it there is going to be a lot of people walking down that campers road to get to there and it’s near the whole playing facility and the bocce ball facility is right next to it too,” he said.
Perri said he is not against the idea but that Birch Grove Park is not a good fit.
“I love dogs. I would love to accommodate them, but until they have the advisory board’s blessing I would not even reconsider it and I’m still on the fence about it with them going by the playground,” he said.
Brozosky said she was saddened by the decision.
“It’s disappointing, absolutely. I think it is an embarrassment that they did that when Susan wasn’t there. I think that is very telling,” Brozosky said. “I think that the process was flawed because I do not think that was on the agenda. To vote on something without the person who proposed it and not even use the correct procedure, just speaks a lot about what the council is and that’s a good ol’ boys club.”
She said she put a lot of time and effort into the plan “for the love of the city because I thought it would be a community-building project.”
“It is an enormous amount of work and the fact that it just got squashed because people didn’t like who was behind it is unfortunate,” she said.
Brozoky said she was surprised by the way the issue was handled.
“I think it’s disappointing because I don’t understand how dogs became political. I don’t understand how people can be against dogs. This is so very on brand for 2020 when something as easy and as simple as a dog park that the taxpayers pay no money for, and if they don’t like are not compelled to go to, could possibly be made into this hot-button issue,” Brozosky said. “This was not the year to do anything constructive, honestly, and maybe next year will be different.”
Just so much of life has changed for the worse in this last year and this was an opportunity to make something positive come out of 2020, if that’s even possible, and it’s not,” Brozosky said. “Maybe next year — that’s what we all keep saying about everything. Maybe next year will be better for the dog park, too. It was just not in the cards this year.”
