MARYSVILLE When a salesman says his product will pay for itself, its usually a sign to grab your wallet and run.
But the Marysville Parks and Recreation Department is finding that a new $5,300 camera set recently installed in the Marysville Skatepark has reduced vandalism and graffiti so much that workers are spending less time fixing the park. That is resulting in a daily savings of about two and a half hours when parks workers unlock the park each morning.
In the past it was common for workers to pick up more than 200 cigarette butts each morning thats 10 packs and to have to cover or paint tagging and repair damage to benches, bathrooms and other fixtures.
Thats all history now, according to neighbor Craig Wells.
He owns the Marysville Laundry Station across the street from the park, and has been a critic of teens hanging out at the park and pestering his customers and damaging his business. Wells installed his own camera system to cover the Laundromat and urged the city to do the same. Hes a happy man since the cameras were installed in August.
Basically, the punks and the problems are gone, Wells said.
As a father, Wells said he can live with that, and in fact the Skatepark regulars who use the vending machines and bathrooms in his business have been much more polite of late. They leave their skateboards outside, they say hello and are much more friendly than in the past.
Marysville Parks and Recreation Director Jim Ballew said there have been no problems at all since the cameras went live. Workers havent had to pursue any bad guys because there hasnt been any damage or vandalism. Even littering has improved, he said.
Were saving money, Ballew said. It truly has been one of the best things that we have done.
Now that the cameras have proved their worth, Ballew is looking to install them at two other facilities: Ebey Waterfront Park and Jennings Memorial Park. The former is not staffed and while it sits downtown it doesnt have any neighbors to keep an eye out for trouble. Ballew would like to be able to monitor the facility for damage and also to track usage of the playground, bathrooms and boat ramps.
Jennings Memorial Park is by far the citys busiest property and houses the department headquarters and maintenance sheds as well as live-in caretakers. But the park has seen a rash of crime, mostly smash-and-grab car prowls in the parking lot.
Last summer some people found that their credit or debit cards had already been used by thieves before they returned to their damaged cars. In one case the thieves ordered goods to be delivered to their address. That case was easy for police to solve but not all are and Ballew would like to have the parking lot there covered by cameras. Hes requested funding for cameras for Ebey and Jennings parks in the next annual budget and has had enough savings in the month since the Skatepark cameras were installed.
Were on course to recover the cost of that by the first of October, Ballew said.