SALEM — Three juveniles, including two girls continuously fighting and one boy causing problems at the pool, won’t be allowed to visit Salem city parks anytime soon.

That’s because they’ve been banned by the long arm of city Parks Director Shane Franks, who utilized the power given to him by city council this spring to punish repetitive rule breakers by kicking them out for up to a year if necessary. All three teens have been banned for a year, although Franks did say he can make it shorter.

He reported the bans to the city Parks Commission members during their meeting Wednesday, noting that no one was present to appeal their cases. He also stressed that all three bans were recommended by Salem Police Department officers who responded to the incidents.

Franks said his approach is to start by educating the offenders first about the possible consequences of their actions, then give them a warning if it continues, then if it happens again, they’re banned. The ordinance gives Franks discretion to revoke or reduce a one-year ban. The banned person also has the ability to appeal the ban to the city Parks Commission within 30 days of the order being issued.

The offender can be notified of the ban in person by the parks director handing them a written copy of the notice and the appeal process or the notice can be sent by mail. Franks said all three teens were notified by mail. If they’re caught in the park after being banned, police can charge them with criminal trespassing.

“We are taking the parks back,” Commission Chairman John Panezott said.

Commission Vice Chairman Terry Hoopes said people are noticing, saying someone came up to him and said it was a great idea. It’s also positive because it shows that council is with the parks and the police department is with the parks.

“It does start to send a message,” he said.

In other business, Franks said he met with Mark Johnson and his mother, Betsy, to talk about some of his plans for the Swings-n-Things playground at Centennial Park. The Johnson family donated money from Dr. Thomas Johnson’s estate a couple years ago to fix up the playground. Johnson had been a dentist in Salem. One of the ideas Franks discussed was installing climbing rocks and stepping stones, but he told commission members that he’s learned there’s more to it than just putting the items in place.

A small climbing stone from David Williams Associates was priced at $4,326 and the stepping boulders at $2,025. The company wants another $1,350 for installation. Franks explained that they have to adhere to rules and regulations for placement due to fall zones for the various apparatus in the playground, such as the swings. The fall zones can’t overlap.

As for other items, such as replacement swings, he said the company would not provide them unless they were mounted on their equipment, claiming the existing structure doesn’t meet regulations, so the commission may have to go through the original company that supplied Swings-n-Things. That company, Leathers & Associates, issued a report last year recommending $100,000 to $150,000 in work to update the playground.

Franks said he still wants to update the playground, but commented it may not be as simple as hanging a new swing.

“No matter what you want to do, it seems like there are so many regulations,” commission member Lucille Karnofel said.

Hoopes noted that they certainly want to do it the right way, which Franks agreed that’s what he wants, but it may take longer.

Also at Centennial, both he and Parks Foreman Jim Grimm reported they’ve been working on filling the cracks on the tennis courts, blowing out the debris, filling them with sand and then using the crack sealer material. At least one court was finished and Franks said he wanted to have all three completed by fall for the tennis team. The Salem tennis team uses the courts for matches and the girls season starts in late August.

Franks spoke briefly about the Go Wild in the Parks programs with the Salem Public Library and praised the partnership.

Grimm ran through a rather lengthy list of some of the projects he and the maintenance staff have been doing besides the normal care this time of year such as mowing grass, cutting weeds and taking care of the ball fields. Joe Colian let Grimm borrow a bucket truck to cut a dangerous limb from a tree at Centennial Park, with all commission members expressing their thanks for his generosity. They also talked about the partnerships with the other city departments, particularly the service and utilities departments who have helped out on some projects.

The next commission meeting will be 5 p.m. Aug. 22.

mgreier@salemnews.net