Chase council has balked at the idea, but the resident who proposed a curfew to end vandalism in the village isn’t ready to let the idea go.

“I guess every community has the same problem but, when you see six or so kids roaming around at one, two and three in the morning, they’re not out there to shoot basketball,” said Mary Porter.

Porter proposed the curfew during a council meeting Tuesday night, saying it might be a way to stop vandalism.

Council intends to build a skateboard park but, if history proves correct, it will become the target of unruly teens, she said. The facility might be concrete, but youths could smash the lights.

Village council also wants to renovate a tennis court and add basketball hoops and other amenities. She said the court was repeatedly damaged by youth in the past and believes the destructive behaviour will continue.

“What’s the point of doing that and then having it trashed? You might as well take your money up to the landfill,” said Porter.

There was a curfew in Chase in the late 1960s, she said. A bell would sound and, if police caught a teen out after 10 p.m., he or she was taken to the police detachment. The parents were then asked to pick them up.

Porter believes this could halt the vandalism and keep those six or eight youths off the streets. She said the fire department siren could start the curfew between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

The RCMP and members of Chase council told The Daily News on Wednesday the problems with youth and vandalism is no worse than other communities.

Chase secondary vice principal Greg Gartrell agrees. He said a curfew might stop the troublemakers, but it would punish all of the town’s youth as well.

There’s a lot for young people to do in the village, including sports and a youth group run out of the school, said Gartrell.