EUSTIS – Officials are exploring options on how best to handle youths who hang out late at night and get into trouble.

Selectmen’s Chairman Jay Wyman said some kids as young as 12 years old have been out late evenings and early mornings. Vandalism has occurred during these times, he said, including flags being stolen from the school as well as feces being smeared on the outside of the building.

The town is exploring whether to propose a curfew ordinance that would restrict the time youth are out at night.

Selectmen decided to bring the issue to townspeople’s attention after several complaints were reported, Wyman said.

This is also parent education, he said, adding that some parents may not know their children are out late at night or early morning.

Selectmen are also looking at who would be responsible to enforce a curfew ordinance, since the town doesn’t have a police department. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department and State Police patrol the town at different intervals.

The town is also exploring an option of hiring a constable or a deputy to specifically patrol the town, which gets “very expensive,” Wyman said. The town can have a sheriff’s deputy do a detail in that town for $28 an hour. If the town set aside $1,000 for the detail it might be worth it to have a deputy come up for a few hours off and on to try and curb the vandalism.

Wyman said he has also been speaking with State Police to find out what’s available through them.

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