Thanks to 5-8 Grill & Tap for their support. From $8 Juicy Lucy Mondays to hand battered fish Fry-days and new weekend breakfast, try the 5-8 for great food at a great value every day.
The City of West St. Paul Parks & Recreation Board is holding a campaign to promote the longevity of the city’s parks. They have compiled a list of 10 things residents can do to help with park upkeep:
- Explore parks new to you.
- Tell others about the park.
- Volunteer, Adopt a Park, or pick up litter.
- Report vandalism and negative activity.
- Spend time in the parks with others.
- Be a good role model for youth.
- Be neighborly, smile and say hello.
- Leave no trace.
- Limit your use of chemicals and pesticides.
- Share your park ideas with us.
See more details on the Parks & Recreation page.
Q&A With Eric Weiss
West St. Paul’s Parks Director Eric Weiss spoke with us about the campaign’s goals, inspiration, and successes.
Could you tell us a bit about the campaign and its goals?
Like so many cities, West St. Paul has faced its share of park vandalism and negative activity. After the pandemic, it certainly felt like there was an uptick in carelessness and negative behavior. We’re lucky that in West St. Paul we haven’t seen major incidents, but the small things can add up, and so we wanted to take proactive action before things got to a level where people no longer wanted to visit the parks. We work really hard to keep the parks clean, but with a small staff, we can’t be everywhere at all times. For example, littering has been a big issue. Some folks seem to leave behind candy wrappers, soda bottles, and food (melted sticky food is the worst!). Some of this is carelessness, some is accidental, and some is just disrespect. If we can cut down on even a small portion, it’s majorly helpful to our staff. If we can spend less time picking up litter, we can get to bigger projects. And as we look to reimagine our parks system and hold more events, we need the help from neighbors to stretch our budget.
Why is the city choosing to roll it out now?
As the temperatures rise and people spend more time outdoors, so do incidents of vandalism and littering. The campaign was rolled out in spring to be a reminder to folks that we all need to do our part to maintain our parks. We’re hoping parents and adults will be good role models and speak to their kids about the importance of caring for public spaces and the environment.
We’re happy to see every park adopted through our Adopt-A-Park program and are extremely thankful to volunteers who show up to plant trees, pick up trash, and help us put on events. We really couldn’t do it without them!
In addition to the campaign, we have done or have planned:
- Increased damage deposits at the Harmon Neighborhood Center and picnic shelters: We were seeing folks rent spaces and not clean up or return keys. We had our damage deposit fairly low as a way to make the space more accessible to folks. Unfortunately, that was no longer sustainable, so the damage deposits were increased. I’m happy to report that we’ve seen a drastic improvement in key return and clean-up.
- Site improvements at Harmon Park: This summer we’ll be adding more lighting to the three buildings in Harmon. This should help deter negative activity and make the park feel safer. It’ll also help improve what our security cameras are able to pick up.
- Pursuing corrective action: Thanks to security cameras, we’ve been able to track and capture images of those vandalizing park spaces. In many cases, it’s young people, so we’re thankful to our school partners in collaborating with us in identifying wrongdoers and sharing parent contact information. The last thing we want to do is pursue legal action, so we’ve been working to have those that negatively impact our parks spend time giving back by cleaning up. And yes, that could include cleaning bathrooms—so this should be considered a notice to everyone! We’ll be exploring additional ways the city and school can partner to proactively support our youth and parks.
What has the response to this campaign been like? Have some weeks been more popular than others?
Hard to tell what the response has been exactly, but anecdotally, I’ve heard from residents that they’ve appreciated the campaign and proactive measures. We’ve really tried to make the campaign unique and funny, as we’re looking to build support for positive actions, not wag a finger at the negative stuff. Kudos to our staff and communications coordinator, who really brought some fun ideas to the table.
People understand that anytime we have to spend money or time fixing something or painting over graffiti it chips away at our budget reserves needed to build improvements or requires our park staff to set aside other maintenance activities. West St. Paul residents are really pragmatic, which I really appreciate. Every bit helps!
What is the city ultimately hoping to accomplish with this campaign?
Ultimately, the campaign’s goal is ensuring that our parks are safe, accessible, and welcoming to everyone, and that the investments we make into our parks are protected and preserved.
Thanks to Eric Weiss for sharing with us about West St. Paul parks.
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