Skaters at the Griffin Park skate park are on thin ice with town officials following years of complaints about disrespectful behavior, vulgar language and littering.

Beginning later this spring, skate park users will have to register with the town to gain access to the facility located on the edge of Griffin Park. Cheryl Haas, recreation coordinator, said the move stemmed from a lack of respect skate park users have repeatedly shown local police officers and town officials in the past.

With users now required to display registration stickers on their helmets, Haas said the town will be able to track down individuals who ignore the park’s posted rules. Depending on the number of violations, skaters can face suspension from the park – set to open in April – anywhere from a single day to the remainder of the season.

While the number of “bad apples” using the facility is relatively small, Haas said the inappropriate language, trash and disrespectful attitude from some skaters has forced officials to make one last-ditch effort to enforce more stringent regulations. The alternative would mean an end to the town’s five-year-old skate park.

“Unfortunately, some were looking to get rid of the skate park and we sat down and said let’s give this a try. If this doesn’t work, we’re not going to fight to keep it open. It’s a great facility and it gives the kids a place to go, but I get complaints after complaints about the language, (the skaters not wearing) helmets, the trash, and the police are constantly down there,” Haas said. “I’m not looking to make enemies, but the alternative was to not have a skate park.”

Under the new regulations, nonresidents will have to schedule a 20-minute meeting with recreation officials to go over the rules and violations before receiving access. Haas said the policy should deter most of those skaters who were not planning on following the rules in the first place.

“A lot of the kids will not sit through that, and those are probably the kids we don’t want,” she said. “We’ve had most problems with nonresidents and we think this will help that problem.”

Haas is still working with selectmen and the police department to make a plan to enforce the new regulations. Selectmen have authorized the use of a camera to monitor the skate park, though Haas hopes that it will eventually become self-policing, with violators being reported to the police by other skaters or members of the public.

Police Chief Gerald Lewis said he plans to meet with recreation officials soon to discuss the new regulations and the enforcement of those rules in the future. Lewis hopes the new policies will deter littering, use of vulgar language and scuffles and improve the environment inside and around Griffin Park.

“With the fact that you have adolescents and young adults congregating in one area, that in and of itself is conducive to some problems developing,” Lewis said. “I don’t want to lump them all under the same heading, because a vast majority of the kids that utilize the park are great kids and follow the rules, but it’s a certain element that violates the rules, and we try to enforce them to the betterment of everyone.”