Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Department employees are still dealing with trespassers and vandals. Department director April Layher gave a report about such problems to her commission at a recent meeting, saying that Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Department athletic director Thomas Peters encountered a group of trespassers who had illegally entered Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Regional Park and used the facilities. Layher said Peters had repeatedly instructed these people that they were violating rules and that they could not remain.
Layher said she has dealt with the same people and has given them the same warning.
“I asked them last year to come in and go through proper channels to practice out there, and they continue to not,” Layher said. “Despite the fact that we asked them to reserve the fields, they continue to not. … My athletic director has said this is a continual problem.”
Layher said she is considering banning these people. Asked if these people risk being arrested, Layher said her department is not a law enforcement agency. She said police officers patrol the parks.
“We charge $10 per hour for people to practice on our fields,” Layher said. “We do that to know who is on the fields. We would be able to hire somebody to open the bathrooms, make sure that the fields are clean, and that trash is picked up and removed when they left.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
In vandalism news, Layher reported that she sees ruts in fields because people drive vehicles across the grass. She said she has not caught the perpetrators.
“We need to keep on eye out for that,” Layher said.
In other news, Layher gave an update on a broken spray fountain, which used to be inside Lake Saracen, until its pump failed. She said it will cost at least $8,500 to fix it and her department does not have the money.
“We took it to a place in Stuttgart that specializes in fixing stuff like that,” Layher said. “We are trying to identify where we can get the funds. We are working with the Lake Saracen Project Association to identify funding because we work together as a unit. They have an account that they maintain and we do projects from. Right now there are no moneys in there but that does not mean we cannot go find it.”
In other news, Layher proposed writing a policy about what kinds of activities are permitted versus prohibited in its parks. Layher reported that one man requested to use the facilities to host a religious revival. She said her department does not allow religious groups to hold services in its parks.
“We have not allowed churches to come out and have congregational services or tent revivals,” Layher said. “He is claiming we are violating his First Amendment rights. We do not want to do anything that we are violating anything for. In talking with my husband, he said ‘wouldn’t it be a violation of someone’s rights if someone wanted to come out and have a strip party in the park?’”
Layher proposed having a policy that is legally defensible. The commissioners did not take action on her request.