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Board tightens skate-park operations after robbery; weekend supervision and daily fee added
Summary
Following several incidents at the county skate park, including an armed robbery that resulted in property theft but no reported physical injuries, Rexton Park staff implemented weekend supervision with a daily fee (about $5) while encouraging season passes, and the sheriff's office increased patrols.
After several incidents at the county skate park, staff told the Rexton Park board on Feb. 6 that they have changed the park’s operating procedures to add weekend supervision and a daily fee for non–season-pass users.
Don (Recreation and Parks staff member) explained the department had previously moved to an unsupervised model with optional season passes, but a series of incidents — two recent weekday-evening incidents and a robbery — prompted a revised approach. "We made a decision a couple of months ago to try another approach, and that being that we would have a staff person there on weekends, and there would be a daily fee for those coming into the skate park if they didn't have a season pass," Don said.
Tyrone Harris, park operations coordinator, told the board the $5 daily fee has allowed the department to pay a supervisor and has generated revenue from users who do not buy season passes. Tyrone said the weekday schedule remains generally unsupervised, with periodic monitoring by full-time or seasonal staff, while supervision is concentrated on weekends. He added the skate park is opened on days when daytime temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees.
Board members asked about police presence. Don said the St. Mary's County Sheriff’s Office has increased patrols at parks, is attending a weekly coordination meeting with county public-safety and school representatives, and has shortened response times from about 20–35 minutes to about 10–15 minutes for park calls. Don said the department has recorded “3 or 4 incidents in 6 or 7 years,” and that the most recent incident was a robbery in which several people entered the skate park and took personal property; staff reported no physical injuries. Don and Tyrone said some alleged suspects have been identified though not all had been apprehended at the time of the meeting.
Don noted the department does not receive operating funds from the county for the skate park and that the park previously cost the department roughly $15,000–$18,000 a year in operating expenses under prior staffing models. The weekend staffing/daily-fee model was adopted in part to reduce that operating loss while providing a visible staff presence to make users more comfortable.
Ending: Staff said the new weekend-supervision, daily-fee approach is "working out pretty well," and the department plans to continue the model while monitoring incidents and coordinating with the sheriff’s office.
