NEW ALBANY —
plain white sign with red letters has been posted along an access road at Joe Kraft Park in New Albany alerting the public that violators will be prosecuted for trespassing.
It’s not a flashy announcement, but city officials said what’s at stake is of vital importance. There’s been frequent use of the park area — located off West Seventh Street — and the access road as a track for all-terrain vehicles such as four-wheelers, New Albany-Floyd County Parks Superintendent Roger Jeffers said.
“The concern is liability,” he said. “If something would happen then people would point fingers and we want to alleviate that.”
As a result, the New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety approved installing five signs at the park warning of the violations. There’s a city and parks ordinance forbidding motorized vehicles from traveling on publicly owned grass surfaces, but officials said people are either unaware of the rule or just don’t care.
Joe Kraft Park is also a perfect area for ATV riders to blaze their own trails because it’s largely sheltered from view, New Albany Street Department Commissioner Mickey Thompson said.
“It’s wooded and isolated, and a pretty good ways from Cherry Street,” which is a road apparently some of the trespassers use to get their ATVs into the park, Thompson said.
New Albany Police Chief Sherri Knight said the department will be increasing patrols in the area of Joe Kraft Park.
Parks crews have been working to clean up the area lately by removing overgrown brush and vines from the basketball court, as well as painting over graffiti that was spread all over a shelter house. The basketball court at the park is actually owned by the adjacent Hampton Inn, but the parks department has an agreement with the hotel so that the public can use the space.
The road in question has also been cleared of debris lately by the park so that utility crews can access the property for maintenance and other work.
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Officials are stepping up efforts to alert people that trespassing along the city-owned access road at Joe Kraft Park is illegal, as is using all-terrain vehicles at the park, which is located off West Seventh Street. Staff photo by Daniel Suddeath
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ATV users warned of trespassing at Joe Kraft Park in New Albany
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