OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The operations manager at The Ballpark would like to see restriction on dogs at the facility.

The Ballpark is a town facility that is home to the Surge, an Empire Pro Baseball League team, and is also used for other events including festivals and concerts. The facility was brought back to life in 2010 by a large community effort after lying dormant for decades.

Operations Manager Guy Fontaine asked town councilors at a workshop Tuesday night to consider banning dogs from the facility, unless they are service animals or part of an event. The Ballpark is a popular place for people to walk their dogs, and Fontaine said there have been repeated incidents of people not cleaning up after their dogs.

“This has been an ongoing problem,” said Fontaine.

Fontaine said at a minimum, he’d like to see dogs restricted from the facility during the operations season from April to November.

He said there have also been issues with people speeding and one woman recently ran over a dog. He said he tried to address these problems, but they still occur.

Fontaine said he was also concerned with unsupervised dogs being around small children at The Ballpark as well as the threat of E Coli. Events also occur almost daily in the summer, and the facility isn’t a town dog park, he added.

Resident Robin Dayton said she frequently walks her dog at The Ballpark and that most dog owners act responsibly.

Instead of going with a complete ban, said Dayton, the town could consider other options such as having police talk to dog owners who repeatedly don’t pick up their dog waste, charge a user fee for those who want to walk their dogs at The Ballpark and have them sign a set of rules, and set up fines for those who repeatedly don’t comply with rules.

“With a little bit of work, I’m confident we could clean up these issues,” she said, noting that the town beach has regulations in place for dogs.

Three councilors were present at the workshop – Kenneth Blow, Joseph Thornton and Jay Kelley. The one councilor who spoke, Thornton, said he was not in favor of banning dogs at The Ballpark, but he would consider other options, such as designating a specific area for dogs.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.