Shaler approves policies on vendors, metal detecting in township parks

Shaler commissioners have approved two policies affecting township parks.

One regulates outside vendors in the parks, while the other prohibits the use of metal detectors. Commissioners approved each at their Aug. 13 meeting.

Under the policy on vendors, organizations wishing to have an outside vendor at an event are required to provide the vendor’s name and contact information to the township three business days before the event or date.

No unapproved vendor is permitted to be in township parks without prior approval by township management.

There is no cost to getting approval, Manager Judith Kording said. Vendors who do not get advance approval will be asked to leave by township management or police.

According to Kording, township personnel have had issues with outside vendors visiting the parks to promote the sale of shaved ice, ice cream, balloons and coffee during baseball tournaments and on hot days.

Concerns cited include the safety of children running to the trucks and littering, as the trucks are generally not parked next to a garbage can.

“We just need to know who’s in the parks,” Kording said.

Metal detectors prohibited

Metal detecting is prohibited in township parks as of Sept. 1.

According to Kording, the township has had several issues over the past several years with people using metal detectors in the parks, but it had no formal policy or ordinance prohibiting the activity.

While some people using metal detectors are “very respectful” and replace the holes they dig, others are not, she said.

Of concern are the underground sprinkler systems in Fawcett Fields, Kiwanis, Stoneridge and Denny parks, according to Kording.

“If someone were to puncture a sprinkler line, the water would run until such time as we discovered the damage, and we would also be responsible for repairing the sprinkler system from the damage,” she wrote in a memo to commissioners.