River Heights to teens hanging out after curfew: It’s bedtime, go home
September 16th, 2014 Posted in OpinionRIVER HEIGHTS – At 10 p.m. the River Heights city parks are closed, yet teenagers avoiding bedtime have been staying at parks after hours. Tuesday at the City Council meeting, Mayor James Brackner proposed a teen recreation building as a solution to keep teens from staying out late at local parks and tennis courts.
“I have some concern about the youth, the teenagers in the park,” Brackner said. “They seem to have nothing to do. I don’t know if there’s a way we can use part of a building to set up some billiard tables or ping pong tables. We need to have something for them to do.”
Should the council agree to convert a park building into a recreation center for teens, the project will not begin till next year when the city receives more funds for projects.
Public works director Clayten Nelsen wasn’t sure if the teens were really that troublesome.
“I don’t know if they are really causing a problem,” Nelsen said. “We did have some stop signs vandalized. It’s just the hanging out til all hours of the night that the people nearby don’t really like about it.” When Nelsen confronted the teens about staying late, they would leave without complaint, he said.
Another problem is that teens have been smoking at the park areas. In response, the city has put up “no smoking” signs, Nelsen said.
“I just got some cheap ones so I put up some signs to stop that,” Nelsen said.
Councilwoman Dixie Wilson suggested that parents of the teens should be contacted to keep them from staying at parks after hours. “I’m thinking we could find out who their parents are, and call them to say, ‘Parents your kids are hanging out. Curfew is over. Go get them,” Wilson said.
The mayor agreed the community could benefit from the recreation building and asked the council to consider other projects for next year. “If we could find them (teens) something to do I think it would better the community,” Brackner said.
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Tags: Clayten Nelsen, curfew, James Brackner, parks, River Heights City Council
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