Manatee County launches park attendant program to curb park vandalism
BRADENTON, Fla. - Manatee County hopes newly-hired park attendants will help prevent vandals from trashing area parks.
Creekwood Park in Manatee County has become a favorite park for many 4-legged friends and their humans, like Jeff Logsdon.
"The people here actually really care about this park," said Logsdon.
This week, vandals targeted their park and caused thousands of dollars in damage.
"I was just beside myself. My wife and I just sat there and scratched our heads. I just don’t understand what somebody is thinking," Logsdon shared.
Vandals caused thousands of dollars in damage to Creekwood Park in Manatee County.
It appears an ATV or 4-wheeler drove through it, knocking down the fence to the dog park, damaging trash cans and destroying the inside of the bathrooms.
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Crews with Manatee County Parks and Grounds cleaned up the mess and reopened amenities, but it can set them back.
"It's senseless acts of vandalism that ruin it not just for staff to clean up the mess, but the park patrons that enjoy the parks every single day," explained Carmine DeMilio, deputy director of parks and grounds for Manatee County.
Manatee County says it appears as though an ATV or 4-wheeler drove through the park, knocking down the fence to the dog park, damaging trash cans and destroying the inside of the bathrooms.
DeMilio hopes to stop bad behavior at all 54 county-owned parks.
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"Once a weekend we have an issue, not to this extent. It can be as simple as someone driving on our athletic tuff and tearing up the grass," he said.
Manatee County has started a Park Attendant Program. It has hired four full-time employees and plan on hiring nine more in mid-January. The attendants will keep an eye on parks from 2 to 10:30 p.m. daily.
Caution tape and a barricade outside a restroom where vandals caused thousands of dollars in damage.
"That presence alone. They’ll be in uniform. They’ll be making their way around. It’s not just for security and safety, but the customer service end of it as well," stated DeMilio.
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Manatee County hopes their presence will curtail anyone looking to do damage.
"Dealing with this every weekend, it may be a couple of hundred here, a couple of thousands here, but over a course of a year it gets into the six figures of just cleaning up," said David Shurmur the park's operation manager for Manatee County.