Removed city gate causes concern

On Jan. 28, School Resource Officer Eric Prunty, who is assigned to BCHS by the Boulder City Police Department but also serves the three other public schools, contacted Garrett Junior High Principal Melanie Teemant regarding “a campus security issue.”

As Prunty described in a police report, “For unknown reason, the city of Boulder City-owned steel gates have been removed from the Avenue B dirt road between the city-owned baseball field and softball fields. This has created a campus security flaw where any vehicle can drive onto the Garrett JHS campus fields and basketball courts, potentially where students can be hit by a vehicle if a person wanted to do mass harm to students while the students and staff are on the fields.”

As noted, the gate sits between the two ball fields across from Mitchell Elementary. The dirt road is used by utility companies and by the Boulder City Parks and Recreation Department.

Last Thursday, Teemant discussed the issue with the Review and at that point, had not received any follow-up.

“He (Prunty) is very diligent and often walks the perimeter of the schools to see if there is anything concerning at Mitchell, King, the high school and us,” she said. “He asked if we were aware that the gates had been removed.”

After seeing that the gates were removed and based on Prunty’s concerns, Teemant reached out to Dean Kiernan, of the Clark County School District’s emergency management department.

“He came right out,” she said of Kiernan, adding that Prunty also contacted him. “Eric’s concern, as he said, ‘You could drive a semi-truck back there (on dirt road).’”

Teemant did note that where the gate sat, the dirt road can be accessed on either side by driving over the sidewalk/curb.

She said Kiernan reached out to the city to see if there was any kind of memorandum of understanding on the use of that dirt road and the responsibilities of the city and school district. He did find one that dates back to 1961. That MOU described the agreement that the high school could use the city-owned baseball field (Whalen Field).

When asked if she shared the same concerns as Prunty and Kiernan, Teemant said, “100%.”

City responds

Earlier this week, Public Works Director Gary Poindexter said the gate that was in place was installed 11 years ago to help prevent people from parking in the area between the softball and baseball fields during school pickup and ball games. Prior to the gate, for years, there was a chain that ran across that entry point with a no-parking sign attached.

Poindexter said, as did Teemant, that it was very easy for people to simply drive around the gate. And, he said it apparently had not been locked for years. So, it was removed and repurposed off Utah Street on the way to the dump.

“It wasn’t keeping anyone out, even when it was closed,” he said.

Understanding the concern, Poindexter met with Teemant last Friday to discuss cutting off access closer to the school, which could include the installation of a fence on the property line between the school and the city. He said there will have to be discussion if that fence comes at the expense of the city, school district or a combination.

“In working with emergency management, we feel that having our property fenced off completely is the safest and most secure solution to this situation,” Teemant said Tuesday. “Also, Gary (Poindexter) said that there could be some collaboration in putting up a fence that would be less expensive at the end of the access road. As a principal, I would rather know that our property is fully fenced and we have control over whether something is open or not.