Do you walk your dog at Mount Hood? Very important Park Commission meeting tonight (Monday, August 13th) at 6:00pm at Mount Hood Clubhouse, 100 Slayton Road in Melrose. The Park Commission plans to vote on whether to ban ALL dog walking at Mt. Hood Memorial Park and Golf Course. The vote is the 2nd agenda at the meeting.
If you and your dog enjoy walking at Mount Hood, please attend the meeting and share with the commission the importance of this resource for dog owners!
We support legal, on-leash use of the park by responsible owners who clean up after their pets. While there are clearly issues with off-leash dogs disturbing golfers and dog waste littering the park, a ban is not the best solution. Please go to the meeting and help the Park Commission devise a plan that maintains access for all!
Community Editor Danielle Masterson danielle.masterson@patch.com
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Betsey Benagh
12:37 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
At the risk of sounding flip, the dog owners fought for a dog park, why not use that?
Lynn Parisi
12:47 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
The dog park is a 13,000 square feet of fenced in area where you stand around and watch your dog play with other dogs off leash. Mt. Hood Memorial Park and Golf Course is over 225 acres of city park land and golf course where you walk your dog (and yourself). I have been walking my dog up at Mt. Hood for the last 4 years all seasons. We walk between 1-3 miles a day. Great for the dog (and me).
Lynn Parisi
12:48 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
By the way - I love the dog park but it's not a replacement for exercise and being out in the fields and woods.
Betsey Benagh
12:59 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
Fair enough. It was an honest question, I wasnt' trying to be a jerk. I don't have a dog, so I hadn't really thought about it.
It does seem to me like the golf course is a lousy place to walk a dog, but the rest of the park shouldn't be restricted, as long as the humans are responsible for themselves and their pets. If there were some way to ban any irresponsible humans - pet owners or not - I'd be all for that. :)
Dave Gray
1:37 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
It's the revenue stream from the golf course that allows Mt Hood to exist in it's current state. While I don't have a problem with responsible dog owners using the park, I do hope that dog walking on the golf course proper would be prohibited. Imagine a dog owner strolling along on the path across the 17th fairway and getting skulled by a tee shot. If they're prohibited from being on the course, the liability issue goes away. There's plenty of other areas up there they could go.
Lynn Parisi
1:47 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
The city purchased the land for a Memorial Park and Golf Course not a just a golf course. The road that runs along the 17th hole is in a located in an area where people fish and picnic. It's the main road to the tower. It's probably the most used walkway by park users and most assesible for use by senior citizens. If I was walking without my dog, I'm just as likely to get hit by a ball so why not ban all Melrose residents from the Memorial Park and Golf Course? In regards to other locations, there aren't that many areas that are open parkland that I would feel as safe walking in. Also, the back trails are in bad shape this time of year and filled with ticks. When I walk at Mt. Hood, I get to see coyotes, rabbits, deer, turkeys and many different types of birds. It's a beautiful way to start for my dog and myself to start the day.
Dave Gray
6:48 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
The road that leads to the tower is not the path I was talking about. There is a maintenance road that cuts right across the 17th fairway directly across from 3d pond. It runs from there along the 16th fairway to the 15th hole. I have no objection to using the tower road to walk dogs, or to just walk or run for exercise, but there is also the area where that road crosses the 11th fairway has always been dangerous, since it cannot be seen from the 11th tee, and that's the area where most tee shots land. Most golfers are careful about foot and vehicle traffic there, but strolling on the golf course proper is not something anyone ought to be doing. The park is big enough so that shouldn't be allowed. Go to the park commission and ask that those other areas be improved.
Lynn Parisi
10:09 am on Thursday, August 16, 2012
Hi fellow dog walkers at Mt. Hood Memorial Park and Golf Course!!!! We need you to show up!
On Monday, 8/20, Peter Mortimor, will be making a resolution to the Board of Aldermen. He will be requesting that the Park Commission not enforce the prohibition of dogs at Mt. Hood Memorial Park and Golf Course and rescind or modify the prohibition.
The meeting will be held at in the Aldermanic Chambers on First Floor of City Hall onn Monday, August 20 – feedback is at 7:45. You do not have to stay for the meeting just provide feedback during the pubic feedback section. Peter Mortimer has requested that we keep our comments civil and respectful. (LOL)