Park help on its way

A group of residents with concerns about crime and cleanliness in a local park pressed the City Council for solutions at its meeting this week, only to find that some efforts to help were scheduled for the very next day.

Residents near unimproved Bartlett Park said a major problem with transients living in the park behind heavy overgrowth was making them worry about safety. And an overgrown, unimproved park is allowing for a lawless atmosphere, they said.

Local businesses are some of the hardest hit by an unsavory atmosphere, resident Dick Anderson said.

“There have been instances in the last six months where paramedics have been called out,” he said. At one restaurant, “One of the transients came in, and he was bleeding from the waist down. It’s not only an embarrassment for the merchants but certainly for the people that were eating there as well.”

But at least a few plans to get the park into better shape are starting immediately, said Interim Director of Public Works Travis Hopkins.

“We’re planning on removing non-native and dead vegetation,” he said. “We’re going to level the dirt bicycle ramps and jumps in that area. We’ll also remove trash and debris from encampment and hideout areas.”

Workers don’t have much time to get it done, however. Because the park is an environmentally sensitive area, the state Department of Fish and Game only allows work through March 15, Hopkins said.

Resident Stan Hunter said the dirt access roads on the park made it hard for city employees to get in and deal with problems.

“We need access for police and fire,” he said. “Sometimes they’ve parked over on Coldwater [Lane] and climbed the hill to see if they could help out.”

Police are doing what they can to stop crime, but there are access problems, Chief Ken Small said.

“It is a difficult area for us to patrol,” he said. “There’s no vehicle access for us to get in, and you need two officers to go in. We do provide patrols in the park who made a number of arrests last year and this year in the park.”

The city doesn’t have a lot of extra money to use on the park right now, but council members said it was a priority for them.

“It sounds like everybody’s on board to move forward, but it is going to take some resources in order to get this thing done,” Mayor Debbie Cook said.