Jefferson County Council members have agreed to have an access-control gate installed at Rockford Park to increase safety measures and curb misuse of the House Springs park along the Big River.
The call comes after a drowning and a string of water rescues this summer near the river access point at the park.
Rockford Park has been the site of drownings for at least a decade because people tend to misjudge the strength of the current in the river at the park’s access point.
The council voted 6-0 on Aug. 12 to pay $54,415 for Kendall LLC in St. Louis to install an automated gate system at the park’s single entry point. Councilman Scott Seek (District 5-Festus) was absent from the meeting.
The contract includes installing a system for either punch-key code access or card-swipe access for law enforcement and daily automatic open and close functions, according to council documents.
The system will be solar and battery-operated. Additionally, a spike strip will be placed at the exit side of the gate, allowing people to leave the park but not reenter once the park is closed for the day.
Parks and Recreation Director Tim Pigg said he didn’t know when the gate system would be installed, citing supply chain holdups stalling the process. However, he is hopeful the gate system will be installed by next spring.
“This is a way to help mitigate some of the issues going on there,” Pigg said. “I don’t have the staff to go around and lock all the parks. I can see all the other parks having a similar type of system, but it’s expensive and I want to make sure it’s going to work right.”
Pigg said universal signage recently was installed at the park near the river access point to dissuade people from swimming.
The symbols show a person swimming with a red slash through the image. The new symbols were added directly below a large sign that reads “Swimming or wading not recommended.”
Ongoing problems
Since 2014, there have been six drownings on the Big River at the Rockford Park access point, 35 calls for water rescues and 20 calls for medical emergencies, High Ridge Fire Chief John Barton said.
In March, the council voted to change the name of the park from Rockford Beach to Rockford Park and to ban alcohol and marijuana use at the park in the hopes of preventing future drownings and near drownings at the park.
However, the council stopped short of outright banning swimming at the river access point.
Before the March decision, Councilman Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) had proposed an ordinance that would have prohibited swimming at the park, but Councilman Bob Tullock (District 7, House Springs) called for the bill to be amended and keep swimming at the park.
At a later meeting when the council voted on the amended ordinance, Tullock, Lori Arons (District 3, Imperial), Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) and Gene Barbagallo (District 2, Imperial) voted for it. Scott Seek (District 5, Festus) voted against the ordinance, and Haskins and Dan Stallman (District 6, De Soto) were absent.
“To change the name, I thought that was silly and ineffective, and almost looks like we had something to hide,” Haskins said. “Let’s try to confuse people and maybe they can’t find (the park), I don’t know. It did little to deter people from swimming, obviously.
“It was a weak attempt by my colleagues. My goal was always to save lives and to not put our first responders at risk.”
Groeteke said there’s an ongoing dialogue among the council members about what should be done at the park. He is dubious, though, that a swimming ban is the right action to take.
“The issue is that the county doesn’t control the river,” he said. “We can either shut the park down or ban swimming and if we ban swimming, how do you enforce the swimming ban? You would have to have a deputy there all the time. Then, do you fine people? Do you haul them to jail?”
Groeteke said there’s no money in the current budget to pay a deputy to patrol the park.
Haskins said his original bill calling for the swimming ban was based on legislation banning swimming at Castlewood State Park, which stretches across both sides of the Meramec River in St. Louis County. The park was the site of several drownings, including five children who drowned on the Meramec River in a single day in 2006.
“Just like any park, anything we own, it’s our responsibility to make them safer,” Haskins said. “We own the land in the park, and we can obviously make a law that you can’t swim because the state does it. Just look at the state. They don’t outlaw or make an ordinance or a crime to swim in other rivers or other parts of the river, but when there’s a problem, the state does what they should do and have done and will continue to do: They get an ordinance not to swim there.”
Since the Council’s March decision, the High Ridge Fire Protection District has responded to nine emergency calls for water rescues, and one person has drowned, Barton said. There was one call each in April and May, four calls in June, two in July, and one so far this month.
One man, Guadalupe Lopez of Madison, Ill., drowned at the Big River access point in Rockford Park on July 23.
Last summer, High Ridge Fire responded to nine calls for water rescues and two people drowned, Barton said.
Compounding issues
In addition to the unsafe conditions of the park’s river access point, Barton said overcrowding in the parking area can prevent emergency service vehicles from accessing the boat ramp quickly for water rescues.
On the weekends, large crowds of parkgoers flock to the river to cool off, often parking along the narrow access road leading in and out of the park, and blocking fire lanes, Barton said.
Last summer, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office increased deputy patrols at the park on the weekends, and Barton said he has seen less overcrowding since then.
Barton said he is focused on educating people about the ongoing dangers of the river. He sees the new universal signage at the park as a step in the right direction.
Rivers can change dramatically due to flooding and natural erosion and are constantly evolving, he said.
“We’ve been running rescues there every single year for as long as people have been out there,” Barton said. “Some people get lucky and don’t have a problem. Some people get unlucky, and it results in injury or loss of life.”
Haskins believes the Big River access point at Rockford Park is a problem the County Councill should take care of immediately by banning swimming and increasing law enforcement patrol. He said he’s frustrated by the actions, or inaction, of his fellow council members.
“We will have another drowning, and it will be on their hands,” he said. “When you can take care of something, I don’t understand the idea of, ‘Let’s delay this, and maybe it will go away.’ This is our park and our responsibility as a county. It’s not anybody else’s.
“In this community, there’s probably nothing more dangerous than Rockford Park.”