META — Meta officials have had it.

There have been at least two incidents involving an unidentified individual or more who used a four-wheeler to destroy part of the new walking trail at the Elementary Memorial Park.

“A lot of work went into getting the grant, and we put this together for the citizens in this community,” said Mayor Ivie Helton at last Wednesday’s monthly board meeting. “We’ve gotten very good feedback. Lots of people have stopped me to say how great it is. You know, the pickleball courts are being used. Then we have certain individuals who want to come and tear up the hard work we’ve put into it takes away from everybody in this town. It takes away from being able to use it and enjoy it. It takes money away from our budget to fix those problems, make those repairs — and that’s money we can’t spend on other things. So, I would encourage anyone who sees someone damaging city property to let one of us know, or preferably, contact law enforcement. We’ve already been in contact with law enforcement and made reports on those kinds of things, but we’re not going to tolerate people tearing up our property — period.”

Alderman Otto Wankum, who oversees maintenance activities, is appalled. “Quite frankly, it pisses me off,” he said. “This is the second time it’s happened.”

Last month, aldermen banned the use of motorized vehicles on any non-designated trail, except for government entities for official use, emergency services, mobility-impaired individuals using wheelchairs, and bicycles as defined by state law.

Aldermen agreed the prohibition would protect hikers, bikers, and equestrians using the trails at the park.

The penalty for the municipal infraction of driving a motorized vehicle on non-designated trails is $500 per violation. Law enforcement officers and park rangers are authorized to enforce the ordinance.

But that requires someone to be caught.

The first incident occurred when it snowed, when the individuals responsible apparently did donuts. Because the ground was frozen, it didn’t cause quite the amount of damage as evidenced this time.

Osage County deputies responded to make a report and catalog the scene.

Existing cameras on the maintenance building do not have the clarity to determine details that would help identify those responsible.

“It’s hard to get an idea who it is,” said Wankum. “I mean, we have our own personal opinions, but that’s not proof. What we need is pictures, and then we can do something about it.”

To accommodate that hopeful eventuality, aldermen cemented last month’s decision with a resolution to purchase a security camera system from Lakewood Alarm for $2,990.86, which includes monitor viewing with no internet required, repositions current cameras, adds two new panoramic cameras, and replaces the hard drive, which stores data for up to 30 days.

While aldermen agreed this expenditure was necessary to protect the park and enhance the possibility of identifying those involved, there exists concern for the future.

“It makes us hesitant to spend more money on this project,” said Helton. “We still have fencing or netting to put up around the pickleball court, and we have brand-new benches that have been donated to put up, trash cans, and we want to do landscaping in the spring. It makes us hesitant to want to do those kinds of things, and put money into something when somebody is just going to turn around and tear it up and for no damn reason whatsoever.”

“It ain’t an accident that somebody runs into the grass,” Wankum added, adding they were premeditated acts of vandalism.

Similar damage had occurred at the ballpark, including ruts in the gravel near the pavilion, but it has not been rampant.

However, the behavior of a few has impacted how aldermen operate the ballpark. “We don’t want to have to limit access to things,” Helton noted. “We had a problem with the bathrooms down at the ballpark. We wanted to leave those open, so if somebody comes into town, they could use them. Or, if we had ball teams practicing, we were going to leave them open. But, people go in there, they tear it up, and they trash it, so why would we leave it open?”

Aldermen would rather see people respect the parks and the time, money, and work that went into developing them. If not, there are potential avenues of recourse should the new system make identification possible.

“You all could throw the book at them,” said City Attorney Todd Smith of Lauber Municipal Law, citing after-hours park access, destruction of city property, improper operation of a motorcycle … “You could sue them for damages. You’re obviously not going to go to prison for something like that, but you could get multiple tickets. You could be looking at a steep bill. So if somebody were ever identified, prosecuted, and subsequently sued, they’d have a hefty bill.”

Though the sheriff will not enforce city ordinances, City Clerk Deidra Buechter reminded Wankum to save receipts for repairs in the event the city pursues civil litigation.

In related park news, Buechter told aldermen the State Parks Association wants to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open Elementary Memorial Park. The event may include National Parks representatives as well. Buechter advised the ceremony would be in May, so planning needs to be confirmed by April.

In other business, aldermen approved a change to its meeting date. For the first time in many years, the board will meet on the second Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Aldermen agreed to the new schedule to accommodate a request from Lauber Municipal Law. Smith explained that business is booming.

“We’re victims of our own success,” he said, noting the firm has been retained by several new cities, and resources are limited. “We’ll bring you a lawyer, but that lawyer would be coming from Lee’s Summit or Springfield.”

The difference in mileage would be significant. Lauber Municipal Law does not charge for the first 30 minutes of travel, so an attorney coming from Jefferson City does not charge much. “The travel charge would be significantly more, just to show up, and we understand it’s a hassle move,” said Smith.

FINANCIAL NEWS

• In her regular monthly financial report, Treasurer Karla Buechter noted income/deposits of $33,262.06 and debits of $37,937.03 for a balance on hand as of Dec. 31 totaling $571,668.64; the money market balance was $143,587.08, the CDBG balance was $55, and two certificates of deposit totaled $176,790.07, giving the city a total of $892,100.79 in all accounts.

Remaining business will be presented next week.