During the snowfall on Christmas Day, a driver in Dolores decided to do doughnuts in the grass at Joe Rowell Park, damaging the sprinkler system and destroying grass.
“Remember, these are your parks and your money that is being spent to repair the damage,” a Facebook post from the town of Dolores on Jan. 2 read.
“The post got over 100 shares,” said Dolores Town Manager Leigh Reeves. “The bottom line is, that’s your taxpayer dollars we could be putting toward something else.”
Though the sprinkler system is turned off for the season, each sprinkler head costs $400 to repair. It’s unclear the extent of damage at this time, Reeves said.
“Sometimes people will do doughnuts on the gravel part of the lot, which isn’t as big of a deal,” said Reeves. “It’s a bigger deal when they get on the grass.”
The driver cruised through the soccer fields, which were maintained so well last season, Reeves called it “a work of art.”
Nobody has driven through the park since Dec. 25.
“Maybe they’re just waiting for more snow,” Reeves said.
Reeves added that someone had done this at Flander’s Park and was chased off by a maintenance person, and someone might be doing this at Boggy Draw, too.
This year, Dolores signed a contract with the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office, though, so there are two officers on patrol in the town who would punish a driver that decided to do this.
“We are doing what we can to identify the person(s) responsible,” said Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin. “They could be charged with destruction of public property and reckless driving.”
If you see this happening or have information, contact the nonemergency line of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office at (970) 565-8454.
