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To address security issues, Port Richey will fence Waterfront Park

 
City Manager Vince Lupo says a fence will help them police the park during closed hours.
City Manager Vince Lupo says a fence will help them police the park during closed hours.
Published Jan. 25, 2017

PORT RICHEY — Citing security concerns and the need to establish a clearer boundary, the city has decided to erect a fence around Waterfront Park and to install an entrance gate.

One of the main goals is to prevent illegal nighttime use of the park.

During its meeting this week, the Port Richey City Council voted unanimously to spend nearly $28,000 to fence in the 13-acre park, which is open from dawn until dusk, but has proven difficult to police at night, according to City Manager Vince Lupo.

Lupo told the council that the fencing is not aimed at preventing vagrants from entering the park, but instead will help police enforce the operating hours at Waterfront.

"The police will have the obvious visual capability of policing anyone in that park after it has been closed," Lupo said.

Plans call for 6-foot see-through decorative commercial-grade aluminum spear-style fencing around the park, and a 28-foot double-swing driveway entrance gate.

Lupo said the city checked with the Florida Communities Trust — an arm of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that granted the Waterfront Park land to Port Richey in 1997 and still maintains restrictions on certain uses — and obtained approval for the fencing.

In addition to the fencing plan, Lupo said, the city in recent weeks has been engaging in a "complete renourishment" of the park, including repairs to its driveway and playground. The city is also seeking funding or grants for more improvements, including replacement of a dilapidated pier and improved kayak launching.

"This is part and parcel of the city's efforts to refurbish the park and bring it back up to where it belongs, which is as a jewel in the middle of our city alongside of our waterway," Lupo said of the fencing.