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New London to rely on police and staff for beach sticker enforcement; summer hire deemed costly
Summary
Facing staffing and timing constraints, the selectboard and police recommended handling beach parking sticker enforcement in-house rather than hiring a temporary "sticker checker" (estimated at $15,000–$20,000 for a season); police said they have been checking beach lots regularly and that ticket revenue goes to the general fund.
Selectboard members discussed beach parking enforcement on July 2 and concluded the town should continue to rely on its police department and beach staff for checks rather than making a new summer hire to patrol beach lots.
Staff estimated hiring a dedicated parking-enforcement person for the summer could cost roughly $15,000–$20,000 when including pay and mileage. Chief Cobb said the department has been checking beach lots in response to complaints and "we've done it every day this month." The chief added that hiring now would require posting, interviews and background checks and could be impractical with the season already underway.
"We check those lots on the regular," Chief Cobb said. "I'm happy to report we've done it every day this month." Town staff said parking ticket revenue goes to the general fund and noted that raising violation fines would likely require a public hearing or town-meeting action.
Recreation and police staff agreed a consistent enforcement message is important and pledged coordination: beach staff were instructed to call dispatch when they see vehicles without stickers and officers will follow up when available. The board left the measure to be handled in-house for now and invited staff to consider whether a future budget change should fund a dedicated seasonal position or changes to fines and enforcement policy.
