South Fentress Park Gets New Rules

Fentress County Commissioners approved a basic set of rules Monday night for South Fentress Park to curb vandalism and other problems at the Clarkrange facility.

County Attorney Leslie Ledbetter said the District Attorney’s office said clear rules would be the first step to cleaning up the problems. The county recently took over the basic operations of the park from a volunteer group and the rules were outdated.

“The biggest thing we were seeing out there is vandalism,” Ledbetter said. “And even with the camera system, didn’t matter. People do not care. People drop their kids off out there. People from, you know, teenagers walking around, defacing property right in front of you. And adults, too.”

Ledbetter said during several recent personal trips to the park she encountered people having sex at the park in the afternoon. She also reported camping, with people spending the night in a Noah’s Ark piece of playground equipment. Bathroom vandalism has been a big issue, she said.

“The district attorney’s office told us we needed something in writing that could be presented to them before they could actually pursue criminal charges,” Ledbetter said.

Ledbetter said Commissioners could take further steps moving forward with specific vandalism penalties and criminal trespass charges.

“Certainly we need some rules put down to say we don’t allow this in a public place, and we want it prosecuted,” Ledbetter said.

In other business, the Commissioners approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the County, the School System and the Senior Center. York Elementary students could use the senior center in the event of an emergency relocation. Commissioners also approved a new health insurance agreement after presentations from two firms.