Bangor committee to consider curfew for juveniles

BANGOR — The idea of a curfew for juveniles in the downtown area is back. City staff drafted a revised ordinance last fall after problems with teen-agers hanging around seemed to increase, but the City Council tabled it in November with the intention of revisiting the topic in the spring.

The draft will be on the agenda of the municipal operations committee at 5 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

The city already has an ordinance on a juvenile curfew, revised in 1966 but not enforced in many years.

The idea for another revision came from the Bangor Police Department, which had observed increasing problems in the downtown. Lt. Donald Winslow told the committee last year that incidents of disorderly conduct had increased in the area from 40 in 1995 to 75 in 1996, and that assault complaints had also risen.

The current ordinance, not enforced, says that youth under 14 can’t be on the streets from 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. without a parent or guardian.

The new draft would change the curfew to 10 p.m. for those under 14, and 11:30 p.m. for ages 14-17.

For those under 14, the curfew would be more lenient, but with the idea that it would actually be enforced. Police could take the youngsters into interim care if parents could not be reached, or if the parents refused to come get their children.

Winslow said last fall that he didn’t know whether a curfew was the answer to the problem of teen-agers congregating downtown.

Police Chief Randy Harriman said that one major obstacle was the lack of a facility in which to keep youngsters if they were picked up for violating a curfew.

Also discussed last fall was the idea of fining the parents if their children were causing problems.

One of the places where teen-agers tended to hang out in groups downtown was the West Market Cafe, but that establishment ceased business last fall.

Also on Tuesday, the finance committee will meet at 5:30 p.m.

Agenda items will include the annual appropriation of lease funds from the Cascade Park parking lot. Each winter, Eastern Maine Medical Center leases the lot for a few months, and the proceeds are placed in the city’s reserve fund for Cascade Park.

Up for approval by the committee on Tuesday, and by the full council at a future meeting, will be accepting this year’s lease proceeds of $7,920, which would bring the reserve fund for Cascade Park to a total of $51,163.

The park has some areas that need repairing, and city officials are hoping to rebuild part of the grotto’s retaining wall in the near future.

Other items the committee will take up are appropriating $60,000 from fire equipment reserves to buy a new ambulance, and reviewing Sawyer Arena’s finances for the 1996-1997 season.