PLEASANT VIEW — Concerns about children’s safety have surfaced regarding the way a walking path ends on Pleasant View Drive.
Two former council members, Mae Ferguson and Tim Hjorten, recently brought pictures to city officials to illustrate their concerns.
When his children walk, Hjorten said, they know to stay on the path or sidewalk, but people on the path on Pleasant View Drive are guided into the street where the path terminates on 500 West, near Destination Homes.
Hjorten said the path had been redirected because the property owner on the corner has dogs inside a fence that bark at those on the path.
“We feel there is a safety hazard,” Ferguson said.
“We understand one of the residents had a problem with dogs that bark and tried to convince (someone) not to continue the walking path. It is directing people onto Pleasant View Drive.
“The original plan was for the walking path to go to the sidewalk.”
Ferguson said she likes dogs, but the safety of residents is more of a concern than the dogs.
“It is a public right of way,” she said.
She said she wants the walking path to be nice and the way it should be.
Ferguson thanked the city for its work on the path and for the trees and landscaping in future plans, but said she wants a resolution to the missing piece, as people should not have to walk in the street.
“It was to the sidewalk. We took that out and shifted it because of a request from the corner lot owner,” said Community Development Director Bruce Talbot, who added that the issue was not their dogs, but property damage.
“The big issue for them was a lot of traffic with bikes causing damage when turning the corner on their lawn. It was a temporary solution, to shift the pathway off to the road. It was simple, easy, we tried to solve it and brought in another problem.”
“A couple of weeks ago, I took my whole family there. We came to the end, and where’s the walking path?” said Councilman Scott Boehme.
Mayor Doug Clifford said he would meet with the landowner who owns the dogs to see if the city can offer some landscaping to prevent people from cutting the corner.
Councilman Jerold Burns said two Eagle Scout projects are planned for the walking path, one to plant trees and the other to install benches.
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