The Kewanee Park District will crack down on golf game thieves.
During his report to the board on Thursday, Executive Director Andrew Dwyer told commissioners that the issue of people playing golf for free needed to come to an end. A new policy will be implemented soon that will include asking the person to pay and then having a conversation with them, he said.
“In the future if they are caught, we will contact the police and trespass them from the property for two years,” said Dwyer.
Dwyer told the board that not paying for golf games is tantamount to taxpayer theft.
“It hurts the cost for players who actually do pay,” he said, adding that while they won’t come into the situation “heavy-handed, we will just ask that you pay for your golf.”
The cost for nine-holes is $25. “That’s not a small amount of change,” said Dwyer. The district is also working to utilize the starter staff, cameras and the register system to track players and look out for theft.
On the subject of safety within the park district, Dwyer is looking into adding more cameras at Northeast and Windmont parks. Locations for the camera will be the skate park, baseball diamonds, soccer fields and basketball courts at Northeast and pickleball and basketball courts at Windmont. Wethersfield School District uses the Verkada system, which is a single cloud-managed platform that integrates cameras, sensors and alarms. Dwyer said he will look into that system.
“It is very unfortunate that we have to do something like this because of vandalism and bad actors,” said Commissioner Steve Brackett.
Dwyer said the staffing for the season, including maintenance and at the 19th Hole restaurant, is at full capacity with several young individuals finishing up an internship and the addition of a new restaurant hire.
Sign up for baseball and softball closes on May 7. Numbers are all up and flyers are being sent to the schools. The sign up is listed on the park district website and posted on social media. “The numbers speak for themselves,” said Dwyer, adding that soccer registration is 374, eight up from last year.
Dwyer reported that construction is coming along at Chautauqua Park. The floor work has begun in the shelter house. The plumbing for the bathrooms will start this week. The building is being made ADA compliant.
The park board will be handing out its annual Child’s Best Friend’s Award at the May board meeting.
Park district scholarships have been awarded to Addison Looney of Wethersfield High School and Taylor VanWinkle of Kewanee High School. Many applications were received, but these two students are very active within the community, Dwyer said. The scholarship is for $1,000.
An appreciation lunch date has been set for the lighting crews of Windmont and Northeast parks. The lunch will be held at the 19th Hole restaurant on April 23. “With all of the hard work they do, it’s the least we can do,” said Dwyer.
Dwyer also announced that any donations made to the park district’s Jerry Nell Youth Fund would be appreciated. One hundred percent of the donations goes to local kids whose families can’t afford for them to participate in park district sports and activities.
