Council discusses the park

Concerns regarding activities at Crouse Park were again an issue of discussion during the Sparta Town Council's Nov. 2 meeting.

Councilman Mike Parlier, who also serves as the Crouse Park committee chair, remarked, "We've got some concerns that are over different things at the park there that we want to try to hash out, maybe…at the next meeting (we'll) have something that the council can look at. We're thinking about trying to enforce some kind of rule at the park…."

Town Manager Bryan Edwards added, "We are close to being able to start the installation of our camera surveillance system which we think is one part of an overall strategy at the park to provide increased supervision. I don't feel like we have any real, extremely serious issues, but we do have graffiti, we do have some excess trash at the park from time to time and activities there that I think deserve more attention. We're working closely with our police department. These guys have been very cooperative…they're going to provide an operational plan about their increased presence at the park and I think between the cameras and with our police officers and then other measures that we're going to be talking about with the committee. At the spring of the year, we would like to be in position to have these things in place."

Edwards went on to point out that with the changing weather, use of the park is slowly decreasing; and it is expected that more discussion of improved park security and enforcement will be brought back before the council in late March or early April 2010.