BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- Village trustees voiced concerns regarding plans to leave outdoor ice rinks unsupervised, a move that Joint Recreation Director Mike McCabe said is a cost cutting measure.

McCabe touched on the topic during the review of the Recreation Department's 2025-26 budget proposal, saying the department would no longer monitor the rinks anymore.

"We’ll have our full-time workers open them up. They just won’t be monitored now,” McCabe said.

He said that was the procedure for the past year, saving the department money as staff could be assigned to other duties.

"On the flip side of that, there’s some graffiti there that we’ll have to take care of, but that comes and goes with the territory there," McCabe said.

Trustee Rebecca Violi voiced concerns that arose during the Joint Recreation Commission's recent meeting. Violi currently serves as a village liaison to the Commission.

“I feel like that’s a dangerous situation given some of the clientele that we have seen, just in general, I mean,” she said.

Violi and Trustee Ken McGowan both spoke of an incident that occurred last year when a seasonal employee locked themselves in a bathroom, leaving a concession stand unattended.

McGowan said in many cases parents are not necessarily nearby or with their children at all, something he said that needs to change.

“When my kids were growing up, who was there? I was there,” he said.

He said in many cases staff are not always able to supervise every child who is at the fields.

Violi agreed with the sentiment.

“I agree with you because even as a kid, I was always at Alcoa Field. I was always in that building and even the person that was there that was supposed to be supervising was really not supervising. It was just another kid that was there,” she said.

Both trustees said it comes down to families playing a larger role in supervision, something McCabe said he has seen increase in recent years.

McCabe commented that many clientele who spend time at the annex or Danforth facilities are typically with families.

"So, that dynamic is still there," he said.

In some cases, however, children may be at facilities by themselves. That tends to be the case at Alcoa Field, he said.

McCabe said some of those who may be at Alcoa Field are not there to skate or participate but rather are just passersby.

One suggestion to combat further incidents was to install more cameras but Violi questioned if cameras would deter some of the issues that have been seen in the past.

“I don’t know if cameras would even do it so that you have some eyes on it if there was an emergency or some sort of issue. Then, I don’t know who’s supposed to be watching the cameras,” she said.

According to McCabe, cameras were only placed to monitor the Alcoa Field playground but technical issues have limited their use as well.

He said a technician was supposed to assess the cameras due to images not transmitting as they should but as of the meeting those issues persisted.

Trustees said they hoped to have those issues resolved in the near future.