Bob Day, county buildings and ground superintendent, and Lynn Lund, county employee, came before the county commissioners to complain of some recent vandalism and damages inside and outside the building, allegedly made during a recent Fine Arts sponsored Battle of the Bands concert.
John Terry, Juab Fine Arts Council president, said he was unaware of these problems.
Day said that several months ago the mailbox outside the southeast doors had been destroyed. Someone had beaten it up to the point where it could not be repaired. The county has since replaced it. At a recent band concert in August, someone had twisted the red flag on the mailbox so that it could not be used.
It is federal offense to willfully or maliciously injure, tear down or destroy any letter box or other receptacle intended for the receipt or delivery of mail and can be punishable by fines and/or imprisonment of not more than three years.
"We should have called the cops," said Day.
During that same concert, Day reported a new chair in the foyer had been broken. Also, the sign on the back of the building that states "No Skateboarding" etc. had been pulled off.
"The thing that really concerns us is this is the third time we've had to clean up beer cans," Day said. "They hide them in toilet tanks, on the lights, and this time they left the cultural hall a mess."
Lund said the trash was not taken out and the smell in the cultural hall was bad.
Terry said he had not been informed of any damages and asked when the fine arts council would be informed of these kinds of problems.
He went on to say that he and his staff have taken great pains to ensure that the inside of the building was taken care of, trash picked up, areas blocked off, and so forth.
"I do admit, we forgot to empty the garbage cans," he said. "We picked up everything and put it into the garbage cans, swept, and got on our hands and knees and washed the floors."
Lund said that someone had either skateboarded or roller bladed on the handicap ramp in the east foyer and had left a burn mark in the carpet. She said after much scrubbing, the mark would not come out.
Terry said he wished he had known about the problems. He said they would definitely replace any broken items if they were damaged during one of the events the council holds.
Lund said a year ago she had observed two teenagers smoking marijuana inside the building. Terry said they post rules on the doors stating no alcohol, smoking, etc. during these events. He said they have security, usually husky young men, who are supposed to check for these things inside, but outside they can't control any problems.
He said afterwards they alert the sheriff of these concerts who then let the police now of any issues.
The band concerts are held once a month and vary in styles from acoustic guitar to Screamo.
This past concert, Terry said one band from outside the area was asked to leave because they got too rowdy and offensive.
"We wish we hadn't invited them," said Terry.
The events are chaperoned. They are held to allow the youth in the area to express themselves through music, even if it isn't the type of music everyone likes. The kids are mostly from the high school.
Commissioner Rick Carlton said that if these concerts were to continue, security needed to be expanded to outside the building, and they should check bags before concert goers enter the building.
Terry said currently they check bags before the kids enter the cultural hall.
Commissioner Val Jones asked if there is admission charged. The Battle of the Bands has a cover charge which goes into the purse for the winning band.
Terry asked if there were a more suitable place to hold these events. There is another Battle of the Bands event scheduled for this Friday.
"I know we've been a headache to you," said Terry, "but we've been trying to do things to lessen [the burden on employees]."
He said they would do all they could to ensure the building would be left in the condition that it was found in and would beef up security measures inside and outside the building.
Jones advised Lund to keep a record of damages or problems so that a dialogue could be kept up with the fine arts council.
Commissioner Chad Winn said he appreciated the things the fine arts council is trying to do in the community, and he knows it isn't easy and without problems.
"We'll do better and if you let us know, we'll help pay for any damages," Terry said. "We'll try to be more alert to the problems on the outside."
Lund said there was also a problem with food and gum in the auditorium upstairs in the county building. She said there used to be signs not allowing food, but she had had to clean up gum out of the carpet and smooshed cupcakes out of the floor mats.
Day said they didn't want fliers and other things taped to the doors and windows. He said he would put up a bulletin board to allow for these things by the southeast entrance.
Terry said he was sorry for being a problem and would work with the county and move on from here.