The City Council has signed an agreement with the 2nd District Juvenile Court for a program to provide graffiti removal in Layton.
Effective last month, juvenile court offenders will be the ones removing graffiti within Layton."A lot of times, these are the kids that put it up," Assistant City Manager Jim Mason told the City Council.
He said the city currently spends considerable manpower in making sure graffiti is removed.
For example, parks department employees have to be taken off their usual duties when graffiti needs to be removed from city property. Also, the city's code enforcement officers spend a great deal of time making sure private property owners remove graffiti promptly.
The city has an ordinance stating all graffiti on private property will be quickly removed. The City Council voted to continue that ordinance, as well as give the juvenile court program a trial run.
Mason said several Weber County cities, including Ogden and Roy, currently use the court's removal system.
The juvenile courts would charge Layton $2,000 every six months for the program. That cost is estimated, based on equipment costs. The labor itself is free.
The city can discontinue the program at any time and the actual costs to the city would be adjusted if the city actually has more or less graffiti than $2,000.
Layton had 467 incidents of graffiti during 1997.
"It sounds like a very good way for us to go," Mayor Jerry Stevenson said.
The juvenile court system plans to remove all graffiti within 48 hours. Prompt action is desired so that offenders become frustrated.
The court system also actively looks for the people who created the graffiti. If they are found, restitution can also be paid to the city.
Councilman Brent Allen said he's seen little graffiti in Layton of late, but he believes the learning experience the removal program of-fers to offenders will be invaluable.
- To report graffiti locations in Davis County, call the 2nd District Court's special hotline, 549-7421.