News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Graffiti lines a wall in an alley in downtown Alpena where outdoor dining is popular. Most of the graffiti has been there a long time. Alpena Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Anne Gentry said she believes there is less vandalism downtown since improvements have been made. In other parts of the city however, vandals continue to destroy public property.

ALPENA — Vandalism in Alpena comes with a cost to local government, business owners, and fellow residents, officials say.

Police do the best they can to catch the vandals in the act, or track them down from the evidence they leave, but depend on tips from the public to help stop the destructive behavior.

On Monday, Alpena announced it was limiting the hours its restrooms at Starlite Beach will be open because vandals caused damage inside of them. Typically the restrooms are open 24 hours a day but the crime forced the city’s hand to close it overnight to help prevent other damage.

City Engineer Steve Shultz said although the damage was minimal, a pair of toilet paper holders were torn out of the wall and stolen, it still came with a cost.

He said purchasing new ones and paying staff to install them may have totalled more than $300. He said that amount may seem insignificant, but as repairs mount around the city, the money adds up. He said the restrooms will close from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. each day until they close at the end of October for the season. He said that is unfortunate because there are people who visit the park outside of that time frame.

“We have to pay for new ones, pay to have employees install them, which takes them from other things they should be doing, and the costs add up,” he said. “It is taxpayer’s money we shouldn’t have to spend.”

Shultz said Starlite Beach is one of the spots hardest hit from vandalism, but other city-owned properties like the trailhead, McRae Park, and skatepark also see their share of intentional damage. He said the properties are monitored with video cameras and police do review footage when a crime is committed, but sometimes there are so many people in and out, it can be tough to determine who the culprits are.

Alpena Police Chief Eric Hamp said officers patrol the city 24 hours a day, every day of the year, but it can be challenging to catch a vandal in the act of the crime. He said to help reel in the problem, the public needs to take a more active role in helping the police.

“Our patrols do everything they can to detect it, but we can’t be everywhere at the same time,” Hamp said. “The public needs to be aware of their surroundings and we ask people to call us if they see anything suspicious.”

Hamp said someone who is caught committing acts of vandalism could face malicious destruction of public property charges and the seriousness of the sentence could be based on how much the damage costs to repair.

“The dollar amount of the damage dictates whether it is a misdemeanor or a felony,” he said.

Alpena City Manager Rachel Smolinski said she feels sorry for the people who use amenities, like the restrooms, but are unable to because of the unlawful acts of others. She said it is the responsibility of city staff to make sure the infrastructure is protected from future, and possibly more serious damage.

“This is really unfortunate but we can’t take any chances that the facility will get any serious damage,” she said. “It all costs taxpayers money in the end and there are better ways we could use that money.”

Smolinski said it isn’t uncommon to find graffiti on walls and structures on city property or on privately owned businesses. She said when vandalism is done to a private property, repairing it falls on the shoulders of the property owners. That can be costly, she said, and often removing the graffiti paint is difficult or impossible.

“We do our best to remove it, especially if it is something vulgar,” she said. “But, there are times we can’t get that type of paint off and it just looks bad in our community.”

A lot of money has been invested into downtown Alpena, but graffiti still lines the side of buildings in alleyways, like the one that connects 2nd Avenue and 3rd avenues. Alpena Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Anne Gentry said she believes there is less vandalism downtown now than before many of the latest improvements and introduction of outdoor dining happened. She said the fact that downtown businesses remain open later and people stay downtown later, reduces the chance of someone causing damage.

She also pointed out that the murals in downtown are rarely vandalized and she believes that is because there are more people taking pride in their community and want to keep it in tip-top shape.

“I think when there are improvements, vandalism goes down,” Gentry said. “Some of the graffiti there now has been there a long time, but I think when we get something new, people want to take care of it. Plus, with all the events we have there are more people out later and it is less likely someone does anything because they can get caught.”