City staffers suggested at the parks board meeting Tuesday night that part of Emma Long Metropolitan Park be turned into a temporary off-leash dog area, but parks board members didn’t like the idea.

The Parks Department wanted to find another spot where dogs could run free because it’s planning to close the popular off-leash area at Bull Creek District Park for six months starting in November.

The department is closing Bull Creek park to replant and restore vegetation there, and because water sampling has shown high levels of E. coli, which city staffers say is the result of dog waste in the creek.

The Parks Department said they wanted to open a temporary off-leash area near water, as dog owners had requested. Emma Long park fronts Lake Austin, west of North Capital of Texas Highway. But parks board members said they were concerned about: dog waste contaminating that body of water; over-crowding Emma Long, already a heavily used park; and the fairness of allowing dogs and dog owners in for free, as city staff had recommended, but continuing to require other park users to pay an entrance fee.

The board recommended asking a city task force to search for other sites suitable for off-leash parks. And it approved staffers’ other ideas, which included keeping Bull Creek an on-leash park for six months after the plant restoration work to measure bacterial levels in the creek.