LOCK HAVEN - "I'm sorry I vandalized the city beach, and I won't do it again."
City Council heard these words from two teens, a boy and a girl, whose parents accompanied them to council's Monday evening meeting and encouraged them to give a proper apology.
In an incident that Councilman William E. Baney characterized as "mischievous," four young people reportedly picked up the railings leading to the city beach and threw them down the river bank.
Baney said he was along the river at the time and actually heard the clanging.
The ad hoc community policing group he participates in was then tipped off, he said, and the four youths were caught on Second Street, behind the Yost-Gedon Funeral Home.
They were strongly encouraged to say they were sorry.
Two of them did so to City Council, each stating the same apology in turn.
It was not enough for their parents, however, who also asked council to give them unpaid work to do.
Mayor Richard P. Vilello Jr. thanked the teens for the apology and told them to contact the city manager the following day about volunteering.
Meanwhile, the railings have been reset, Baney said.
Although this incident was more mischief than destruction in his opinion, he said acts of vandalism can create more public anger than other sorts of crimes.
"I wish more people would get involved," he said of the community policing effort.
"Be vigilant and report things," he added.
In other business, council:
- Approved the use of city facilities for the 2012 Megatransect race over Bald Eagle Mountain, set for Sept. 29.
The race has 850 entrants and registration filled up in the first 90 minutes, according to its website: www.ultrahike.com.
- Proclaimed August as Children's Vision and Learning Month in Lock Haven, in conjunction with the state designation of the special month.
The local proclamation request came from the Vision and Learning Center of Northcentral Pennsylvania.
- Held an executive session, closed to the public, on a property matter.
