Last week, the Jefferson Parks and Recreation (JPRD) Board decided on a solution to hopefully curtail a constant problem at some of the City’s park restrooms.

Director Vicky Lautner says individuals have been vandalising the restrooms at Kelso and Washington parks.  She describes the solution that the JPRD Board recently approved.

“The Board has talked the last couple of months about getting surveillance equipment to put into the parks so we can maybe stop this damage that’s being done.”

A proposal from Home Town Variety/Ben Franklin/Radio Shack in Jefferson includes three outdoor cameras and two motion detectors for $9,000.  Lautner notes that the proposal is included in next fiscal year’s budget, which has to be approved by the City Council.  The cameras would eventually be used at all of the City’s six parks.

As for now, all restrooms have been closed for the winter.  Lautner explains why they have to winterize all of the parks.

“We don’t want the pipes to freeze.  (Water Superintendent) Tom Schilling and his crew, they go in and they blow all the pipes out, so there’s no water in them so we don’t have a chance of them freezing.  That would just cost the City more money if we tried to leave them open and things froze up.”

Lautner is hoping to get the surveillance equipment approved by the council and install it by the beginning of their next fiscal year in July.