Skate park gets cordial hearing, but no funding

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Several McCook City Council members said they were proud of the effort shown by local youth in support of building a city skatepark, but ultimately were not comfortable with committing city funds to the project. The council approved the 2013-14 city budget on its first of three required readings without reserving funds for a skatepark, however, they did indicate there was still time to add the item prior to the two remaining readings.

In addition to historically conservative budgeting practices and several budgeted reserve and contingency funds, as approved the 2013-14 budget has more than $500,000 in uncommitted sales tax and community betterment funds. The funds include $224,000 in Community Betterment funds resulting from increasing Keno funds; $207,082 in uncommitted 1 percent sales tax funds; $11,415 in uncommitted 1/2 percent sales tax funds; and $61,732 in uncommitted residual interest that remains from the Valmont TIF project.

Parents and local youths supporting the construction of a skatepark filled council chambers, Monday evening during the council's regularly scheduled meeting. The group spoke during a public hearing pertaining to approval of the upcoming city budget and presented council with their request.

The group, meeting under the name "Build McCook a Skatepark," requested that the city own and operate a public skatepark and commit approximately $75,000 in funds to be used in conjunction with $15,000 to $25,000 raised by the group.

Councilwoman Janet Hepp asked the kids if they would police the skatepark for clutter and trash.

"How can you assure us it will be cleaned up?" asked Hepp, adding with a smile that she had personal experience with a skate ramp in her own back yard.

One young supporter of the project, Evan Strunk, commented that "for how hard we have been working, I wouldn't want trash around my skatepark." A parent of another supporter replied that her kids didn't want to destroy anything, "they just want their own park."

At least one council member had done some research on the topic prior to the meeting. Councilor Bruce McDowell said he had googled the topic over the weekend and discovered there were 25 different public skateparks in Nebraska, six of which were similar size communities as McCook and four that were much smaller.

Councilor McDowell said the skateparks looked clean and had rules clearly posted.

"To tell you the truth, they looked good and showed that people were proud of them," said McDowell. McDowell also said he came across an advertisement from the Holdrege YMCA that they were teaching basic skateboarding.

A parent in attendance commented that they picked up trash all the time at Kelley, Russell and Norris Parks and said a skatepark would be no different than any other park in McCook.

Councilor Jerry Calvin asked if research had been done into grants available for the project. Rex Nelson replied that grants were available but non-profit status was required and more progress would be made in that area if a commitment from the city was received.

Mayor Dennis Berry said the project needed to go through the Parks Advisory Board and Nelson replied that the skatepark group had met with the parks board twice already, although getting a scheduled meeting time with the parks board had been very difficult. Nelson said the city budget process started shortly after the last meeting with the parks board but the group would be more than happy to go back and meet with them again.

As of Wednesday morning, city staff were attempting to schedule a parks board meeting on Aug. 15, 2013, at the Heritage Senior Center.

A parent in attendance, Bill Larington, indicated that bouncing between boards and committees was nothing new to skatepark supporters. Larington said the group met with the McCook School Board and asked if the school district would donate property behind the McCook YMCA for the project. The school board said the request would need to come from the city, prompting the group's first meeting with city council in July 2012. City Council indicated at that time it would need to go through the parks board.

After working through scheduling conflicts among parks board members, the parks board eventually met and communicated to the skatepark group they wanted a commitment from the school board first, a commitment that will only come following a request from the city.

"City Council now wants it to go back to the parks board," said Larington.

Mayor Berry said he understood the group felt like they were getting the runaround but indicated the parks board still needed to be the next step for the project.

Former councilman Aaron Kircher commented that if the parks board was bypassed, "it wouldn't be the first time an advisory board was bypassed. We've been looking at a skatepark for years," said Kircher.

Kircher said that when the college was gifted city property at Kelley Park, where the events center was eventually constructed, the original deal included replacing the city basketball court with a skatepark of some sort.

Kircher said the city ended up letting the college out of that agreement for cost reasons.

Councilors offered no response.

A citizen in attendance, John Huber, said the city operated a skatepark many years ago and the only issue was lights being left on at night, not vandalism.

Rex Nelson presented councilors with information detailing the project, as well as outdoor activity reports and initial design information.

Nelson said he felt strongly that any skatepark would need to be primarily constructed of concrete, which offered the lowest maintenance and best longevity.

Nelson said he envisioned the skatepark as a quality project that was safe for skateboarders and encouraged "folks to shop in McCook because of the cool park."

"You're not being asked to do it alone, we will do as much of the heavy lifting as we can," said Nelson.

Nelson said the skatepark group was asking the City of McCook to do three things. Own and operate a skatepark; provide a site; and provide funding.

Nelson said several sites were available, most already owned by the city and several that could be obtained at no cost to the city.

"Imagine this, a park full of kids and young adults cheering each other on to be the best they can be," said Nelson.

Councilman Mike Gonzales replied that the last time Nelson and the skatepark group had come before city council they had said they didn't want any funds for the project.

Nelson responded that financial support from the city had always been necessary.

During the July 2012 city council meeting Nelson estimated the project would cost $100,000 to $150,000 and said the group was exploring several grant options.

Monday evening skatepark supporters scaled that request down to an estimated $75,000 and committed to raising $15,000 to $25,000 themselves.

Mayor Berry said he was really proud of Nelson for leading the group and for the kids that had put the effort in. Berry asked what the status was of the school district donating property for the park and Nelson replied that he was optimistic and schools tended to be kid friendly.

A parent in attendance, Maggie Repass, said she applauded the effort of the kids in support of the project and "I would love to see the city support something that gets kids away from the TV."

Former Councilman Aaron Kircher reminded councilors that there was no need to wait on budgeting funds for the skatepark and said the item could be added at any point.

Councilors subsequently approved the city budget on its first reading without committing any funds to the skatepark and indicated they would likely discuss the project further before the second reading of the budget. The second reading is scheduled during their Aug. 19, 2013, regular meeting, 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Center.