In Print: April 2024 Open Line Articles

The following articles appeared in the April 2024 print edition of Open Line.

City appoints Alison Hall as new Parks and Recreation director

The City of Auburn will welcome Alison Hall as its new Parks and Recreation director in March. A seasoned parks and recreation professional, Hall comes to Auburn from the City of Dothan where she has served as Leisure Services director since 2020.

Hall has had a variety of roles throughout her 25 years in the parks and recreation field. In Dothan, she led a department of more than 300 employees and oversaw the management of more than 1,250 acres of park property, including 43 baseball/softball fields, 17 playgrounds, six pools, and 22.5 miles of trails. During her tenure, Dothan Leisure Services hosted more than 45 athletic tournaments each year.

Hall’s time as director brought with it significant upgrades to athletic facilities, recreation center improvements, program expansions, and more. She worked with the Dothan Chamber of Commerce, Visit Dothan and RCX Sports to bring the country’s first-ever NFL Flag Football facility — outside of a city with a local NFL team — to Dothan’s Grandview field. Using the new field and other parks, Dothan Leisure Services hosted the NFL Flag Super Regional Tournament in December, bringing in over 60 teams from across the country.

The department also recently completed a major three-phase renovation project at Dothan’s Rip Hewes Football Stadium, which has been in use since 1964. Later this year, the renovated facility will become home to a minor league soccer franchise, the Dothan United Dragons.

Other projects included converting an old recreation center into a full therapeutic programming center and significant improvements to the city’s water park, which saw its most successful season to date in 2023.

“My time in Dothan has given me a much broader grasp of parks and recreation as a whole,” Hall said. “I’ve had the opportunity to see how athletics and different divisions operate and work together, how to stretch dollars, how to evaluate facility needs, forecast budgets and work with other departments to accomplish exciting things together. We’ve just tried to meet as many needs as possible in the community.”

A Dothan native, Hall began her parks and recreation career in Auburn. After graduating with a bachelor’s in government from Sweet Briar College in Virginia, she moved to pursue a master’s in public administration at Auburn University.

Hall worked for the City of Auburn’s Finance Department during graduate school and became the City’s first cultural arts director in 1999. She managed and directed programs and events at the then-newly constructed Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center, and she co-founded Auburn CityFest, the City’s largest outdoor arts and crafts festival that will celebrate its 23rd year in April.

She held various positions in the department over a 21-year span, overseeing Auburn Parks and Recreation’s community programs and special events, including programming for seniors and residents with special needs. In 2011, she began overseeing the City’s recreation and aquatics facilities.

Along with her service through Auburn Parks and Recreation, Hall invested in the Auburn community off the job. She was an active board member and former board president for the United Way of Lee County, and she served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Lee County and the Kiwanis Club of Auburn.

She graduated from the Leading, Educating and Developing Program from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service in 2017, and she was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Alabama Recreation and Parks Association, District V in 2018. She also holds the Certified Parks and Recreation Professional (CPRP) designation.

“I am thrilled to welcome Alison Hall back to the City of Auburn to lead our dynamic and growing Parks and Recreation Department,” said City Manager Megan McGowen Crouch. “Between her vast experience in the field and her passion for serving the Auburn community, I look forward to working alongside her to elevate even further the quality and number of recreational opportunities available for our residents.”

For Hall, returning to Auburn is a chance to fulfill her goal of investing in the community to her full potential.

“I have been fortunate in my life to call two places home,” Hall said. “Dothan is where I grew up, but I spent just as much time in Auburn. It’s unique when you can go to both of your homes and have an impact.”

While she is excited to hit the ground running, Hall plans to begin her time in Auburn by listening to the needs of the community and working with City leadership, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and Parks and Recreation staff to chart a path forward.

“Auburn is growing, and it’s so ripe for athletics, events, aquatics and programming for therapeutics and seniors,” Hall said. “It’s exciting to know the City wants to invest in all of that and bring new offerings for citizens, because they’re hungry for it.”

Go Green, Go Paperless!

Paperless billing — it saves us paper and saves you clutter! You can update your billing preferences at selfservice.auburnalabama.org. If you haven’t set up access to our Self-Service Portal, you can fill out a form to update your customer info at auburnalabama.org/utility-billing/forms or in person at the Bailey-Alexander Complex (1501 W. Samford Ave.).

Swapping to paperless not only helps keep our operational costs low, which in turn helps keep rates low, but it helps reduce the environmental impact of paper production. It minimizes greenhouse gases, reduces wastewater created during production and decreases the gas used to deliver bills.

Signing up for our Self-Service Portal also gives you more options for managing your account. You can access your account 24/7, and you can set up automatic payments. You can also pay your bill over the phone using a credit/debit card.

And don’t worry, you can still read Open Line at openline.auburnalabama.org/print. Have questions about going paperless? Call 334-501-3050 or email serviceorders@auburnalabama.org.

Board & commission vacancies

Interested in serving our community? The Auburn City Council will make appointments to the Downtown Design Review Committee, Historic Preservation Commission, Auburn Public Library Board, Cemetery Advisory Board and Board of Education in April. Find applications and more info at auburnalabama.org/boards.

2024 Auburn CityFest

Mark your calendars — the 23rd-annual Auburn CityFest will be held April 27! Join us at Kiesel Park from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. for Auburn’s largest outdoor arts and crafts festival. This year’s theme is Space Adventure, featuring out-of-this-world special entertainment and attractions.

Along with entertainment, CityFest will showcase more than 100 arts & crafts, food and nonprofit vendors. The Children’s Imagination Station will be back with all sorts of far-out fun for the little ones.

Our goal is to make Auburn CityFest an inclusive space for everyone. To help us achieve this, Auburn University’s College of Nursing will be on-site with its Sensory Inclusion Vehicle, giving those with sensory processing disorders a place to take a step back and soothe their senses.

Before the festivities of CityFest, join us for the 19^th-annual Juried Art Show and Preview Reception on April 25 at 5:30 p.m. Artists are invited to submit their works for this competition where more than $1,000 in awards will be presented. Held at the Nunn-Winston House at Kiesel Park, this event is free to the public. Submissions will be accepted until April 19. Visit auburnal.myrec.com to register.

CityFest is free and open to all. For more information, visit auburncityfest.org or contact Ann Bergman at abergman@auburnalabama.org or (334) 501-2930.

To leash or not to leash?

Did you know Auburn has a leash law? According to City Code, dog owners should keep their dogs “under restraint at all times” for the safety of both the dog and our community.

What does “under restraint” mean? A dog is considered under restraint when:

The dog is confined in a building, fenced pen or fenced yard on its owner's property or on the property of another person with their consent.
The dog is leashed.
The dog is tethered — in accordance with section 4-17 — on its owner's property or on the property of another person with the other person's permission. The dog must be tethered so that it cannot access public property or other private property.
The dog, though not meeting any of the conditions above, is in a peaceful attitude on the property of its owner and is wearing rabies vaccination tags.

We have designated a few dog parks in Auburn where well-behaved pups are allowed to be off leash, including Kiesel Park, Town Creek Park and Dinius Park. Dogs may ONLY be off leash if they are “under immediate and effective voice control” of their owners. Dogs who aren’t voice trained should be kept leashed for everyone’s safety.

More details can be found at auburnalabama.org/environmental-services/animal-control. You can also review what the City Code says about the restraint and tethering of dogs at auburnalabama.org/city-code in Sections 4-16 and 4-17.

Picking up pet waste: Do your part!

Leaving pet waste on the ground may seem harmless, like compost, but it has an impact on Auburn’s waterways. Stormwater runoff may pick up the waste and wash it into the City’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4). This ends up polluting our local water bodies like Town Creek, Parkerson Mill Creek, Moores Mill Creek and Saugahatchee Creek.

Animal waste contaminates water by carrying bacteria (E. Coli), viruses and parasites that threaten the health of humans and wildlife. Animal waste also contains nutrients that can feed algae, leading to cloudy water. As the increased algae decays, it reduces the oxygen level within the water and harms aquatic life. You can help prevent this by picking up and properly disposing of pet waste. Let’s protect our blueways, Auburn — don’t pollute!

Here are some ways to dispose of pet waste that can help keep our waterbodies clean:

Carry plastic bags when taking your pet for a walk, run or stroll in the park.
Pick up your pet’s waste using a plastic bag, scoop or disposable gloves. Seal the waste inside a plastic bag (or two) and throw it in the garbage. Remember to wash your hands afterward.
Pick up after your pet in your yard every few days or more often if you have small children who play there.
Utilize pet waste stations located at dog parks, apartment complexes or within neighborhoods.
Bury pet waste in your yard at least 12 inches deep and cover with at least eight inches of soil to let it decompose slowly. Bury the waste in several different locations and keep it away from vegetable gardens.
Communicate to others how easy and important it is to protect our waterways by picking up after our pets. Let’s all do our part!