Editorial: Cleanup effort at least worth trying

Talk about it

The Worthington City Council devoted a portion of its Monday meeting to what we’ll call a doggie doo-doo dilemma. The action council members took almost certainly won’t solve the problem entirely, but we’d like to believe it will result in a — er — fresh start for some.

In approving a motion that allows the Lake Okabena Improvement Association (LOIA) to install two doggie waste stations at Centennial, Chautauqua and Olson parks, council members (by a 4-1 vote) essentially decided to give an idea a chance. As LOIA’s Genny Turner said Monday, “If we can even get 25 percent more picked up, that’s a start.”

Currently, the city has an ordinance in place in which an individual can be cited and fined for not picking up after his or her dog. However, we see this ordinance as being extremely difficult to enforce, barring law enforcement witnessing an incident or somewhat capturing photographic evidence.

Sure, there are potential problems with the doggie bag solution. As Alderman Ron Wood pointed out Monday, some may use the bags for purposes other than pet waste. There’s also the fact that people walk their dogs in other areas around the lake than just three parks. Additionally, there will eventually be some cost to the city for buying the bags.

However, we think the notion of doggie bag dispensers is at least worth experimenting with. The Association is purchasing the first 4,000 bags; let’s see how that works before making further judgment.

Tags: worthington city council, opinion, editorial, worthington