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WOOD RIVER - After much discussion and debate, Wood River City Council members have officially voted to ban unaccompanied minors from Central Park.
The park has reportedly become a “hotbed of illegal activity” as Police Chief Brad Wells has reported “numerous violent incidents and other illegal activity perpetrated by area youths” in recent months.
The ordinance prohibits minors from being present at Central Park unless supervised by a “parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult” over the age of 25.
During the public comment portion of Monday’s City council meeting, one resident said that while illegal activity isn’t a new phenomenon at Central Park, she agreed something needs to be done about it. However, she raised concerns about a lack of transparency about these incidents and the measures that would be taken to prevent them.
These concerns prompted a response from Mayor Tom Stalcup, who said the city has to take action before the situation escalates any further.
“I think that we’ve been pushed, as a city, to the point where we are going to take strict actions,’ Stalcup said. “We’re tired of it, so we’re going to get it in line.”
City Manager Steve Palen added they’ve received multiple reports of fights breaking out at Central Park, which has kept the park’s newly built accessible playground from being used by those it was intended for.
“I have mothers calling me at home telling me they will not go back down there with their kids,” Mayor Stalcup added.
When the item came up for a vote, Councilman Bill Dettmers raised questions and concerns about how the ban would be enforced, leading to an occasionally heated exchange between Dettmers and the Police Chief.
“We spent $11 million on a Rec Center, and the big draw for that was something for the youth, and now we’re saying the youth can’t go there unless they have a 25-year-old supervising - they can’t even be on the grounds,” Dettmers said.
After Palen and Wells replied that the Rec Center and Round House have separate regulations from Central Park, Dettmers pointed out that one would have to walk through Central Park along the sidewalk to get to the Round House - effectively placing them in violation of the new ordinance.
Wells claimed that no Wood River Police officer would take action against someone simply walking to the Round House, to which Dettmers expressed skepticism, amounting the ordinance to discrimination. “You’re confirming my concerns,” Dettmers said to the chief. “We’re discriminating here.”
“You say that if you want, Bill - but this is no discrimination against anybody,” Wells responded. “The problem is that we’ve got mothers of small children who can’t go to that playground.”
The chief added that his officers already struggle dealing with uncooperative subjects upon their arrival at the park, which is becoming so frequent, Wells would consider placing a full-time officer to patrol the park if given the funding necessary.
“The time my officers are spending down there trying to sort these things out, it’s getting to be on a pretty regular basis,” Wells said. “It’s getting … to the point where I’m almost going to need to stick a policeman down there around the clock - and I’m not real sure the City Council or the City Manager’s willing to start adding policemen to my budget.
Wells added: “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how we’re going to address these issues. This is the best solution that I can come up with right now - if you’ve got a better one, I’m all ears and I’m all for it.”
The city attorney later added the ordinance serves as a framework for police to use discretion in handling these incidents, and that if issues arise in the future, it can always be amended as needed.
City Council members voted unanimously to pass the ordinance banning unaccompanied minors from Central Park. Councilman Scott Tweedy was absent from the meeting.
A full recording of the Oct. 21, 2024 Wood River City Council meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
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