Parker council seeks solution to 4-wheeler damage at city lake
- Roger Sims, Journal Staff
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
By Roger Sims, Journal staff
PARKER – People driving four-wheel-drive trucks and all-terrain-vehicles have once again caused damage at Parker Lake. This time, though, instead of digging out ditches around the lake, they have been tearing up the dam and spillway.
That was the report that city maintenance superintendent James Hazelet and City Clerk Lisa Leach delivered to the Parker City Council at its meeting on Thursday, March 12.
Initially, Hazelet gave a materials cost of nearly $2,100 to install 175 feet of fencing and two gates that would keep people from driving past the parking area near the shelter and the dock. The next step would be to install large concrete blocks, especially on the spillway, but that would increase the cost to more than $5,600, he said.
The council discussed what actions to take including installing cameras and making the lake only accessible by walking in. However Leach pointed out that hunting cameras had been used in the past but were destroyed by vandals.
She did point out that with new technology cameras were smaller and hard to detect, adding that the video could be sent to cell phones of police officers.
The council also discussed punishment for offenders. In an instance last year, Mayor Jason Webber had confronted offenders who had torn up grass around the lake and they promised to repair the damage.
Hazelet suggested that repairing the damage shouldn’t be an option, suggesting instead fines.
Councilmember Stacia Minden suggested that the council look even further and consider lodging criminal charges against people who damage city property. Criminal damage to property valued up to $1,000 is a misdemeanor under Kansas statute; damage to property above that amount is a felony and can be punishable by fines and even prison.
Leach said that she would contact the Kansas League of Municipalities for advice on how to address that issue.
In a related issue, the council voted unanimously to purchase a suspension seat for the city’s mower because of the ruts and uneven ground around the city lake. The cost of the seat is $787.
In pitching the seat purchase, Hazelet told the council that he rarely considered his own comfort in doing his job, but the damage to his body from running the mower over the uneven ground was painful.
“I’d rather ride a bull sometimes than mow out there,” Hazelet said.
The council also heard from former councilmember Gary Earley and his wife Charlotte about the water that flooded their yard after a recent rain.
Gary Earley said that ever since the city had done work on the street in front of his house, groundwater collected in his yard.
“I can’t can get to my barn (when it rains),” he said. “The whole east side of the town drains there.”
He said he had talked to the mayor last year about the problem, but nothing had come of their conversation.
Leach said that the mayor talked to Chad Page about the issue but Page was busy and wasn’t able to look at the problem.
Charlotte Earley said that her family had owned that property for many years and there had never been an issue with flooding. She said that the problem was a result of the building on the east side of town.
The Earleys brought photos of the flooding and gave them to the council members as evidence of the problem.
Leach told him that she would take the photos and work with the mayor and Page to look at solutions.
“I don’t mind taking on some of the water, but I can’t take it all" said Gary Earley.
The council also heard a complaint from Al Kerr about the use of jake brakes by semi-tractors driving through town. Kerr had complained about it in the February meeting as well, but he said that the problem was continuing.
He said that using jake brakes was hard on the pavement at the four-way stop by the Parker Elementary School. Kerr also charged that drivers for the Parker-based Recycling Services used them coming into town.
Leach said she would talk to Police Chief Chris Lee about the issue as well as contacting KLA on ordinances on the problem.
In other business, the council:
Learned that the citywide cleanup was scheduled for Saturday, April 25. Leach said that volunteers were needed and that they would meet at Heritage Park at 8 a.m. to get started. She also said she had contacted Prairie View FFA advisor Trenton Smeed about getting students to volunteer. She said the city would provide lunch for volunteers.
Approved a $200 donation for Prairie View’s after-prom party. That was the same amount of the 2025 donation.
Noted that the Easter Egg hunt sponsored by the Parker Area Ladies Association would be 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, at Heritage Park.