Parks restroom vandalism discussed

CLOVIS - Nobody said, "This is why we can't have nice things." But the sentiment was more than palpable during a discussion of public bathrooms at Clovis' various parks Monday night.

The frustrating topic of bathroom vandalism took center stage during a lengthy Parks, Recreation and Beautification meeting at Roy Walker Recreation Center, with Parks and Recreation Director Russell Hooper telling committee members the problem is constant. The more features a bathroom has, like lighting and plumbing fixtures, the more likely they are to be broken or stolen. Hooper said he'll also see graffiti and in some cases needles in toilet paper dispensers.

Getting a damage estimate is difficult in most cases, Hooper said, because the items are being fixed internally. Supervision of the bathrooms will only do so much, Hooper said, because park employees and law enforcement already have other tasks and constant supervision isn't realistic.

"We need to decide, as a committee, what we're willing to pay for," Hooper said. "You have some of the more primitive ones out at Ned Houk Park."

Assistant City Manager Claire Burroughes said the city would bring the item back to the committee after getting a few weeks of data on how much damage is done to what bathrooms.

City Commissioner Megan Palla said as far as making repairs and/or changing security, it might be a good idea to focus solely on one park and see what kind of impact is made before trying widespread changes.

In other business at the 90-minute meeting:

• Committee members took a brief tour of the Walker center, which is free for general use with room and facility rentals available. The center is open 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. The facility is closed on Saturdays, but is often rented that day for volleyball leagues.

• Burroughes updated committee members on a KABOOM! grant. If selected, the city would provide $8,500 and find volunteers to install a new playground at Greene Acres Park. A similar playground would run the city around $100,000 through other methods.

• The committee approved a recommendation to select AK Sales to install a new playground at Dennis Chavez Park for $104,000. Hooper said two vendors submitted proposals, and both were above the $75,000 the city had in capital outlay dollars for the project. Hooper had said at prior meetings he anticipated the capital outlay would not cover the entire project.

• An idea Chair Fidel Madrid floated as "food for thought" turned into a 15-minute discussion about the pros and cons of selling beer at the Guy Leeder Softball Complex.

Madrid said people were drinking outside the facility anyway and could simply go to a nearby convenience store, and at least with internal sales there could be more knowledge over who's had too much and who hadn't.

Gilbert Salguero, a longtime softball player, was adamantly against the idea. He said he could count the number of bad fights he'd seen at Guy Leeder on one hand over the last 40 years, and he hears about one bad fight almost every season at parks where alcohol is sold.

• The next meeting is scheduled to begin with a 4:30 p.m July 19 tour of Potter Park, followed by the meeting at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Public Library.