(Nov. 13, 2014) For the second time in two weeks, a Berlin town meeting was overtaken by talks of a skateboard park.
First, it was the mayor and council meeting on Oct. 27, when Beth Gourley kick-started the discussion of a recreation center large enough to hold skaters, bikers and a host of other indoor and outdoor community activities.
Then, at a parks commission meeting on Nov. 4, Berlin resident Benjamin Smith pitched a smaller scale skateboard facility that could be ready in as little as nine months.
Accompanied by a cadre of young people and their skateboards in the Town Hall meeting chambers, Smith dismissed commission member Patricia Dufendach’s assertion that the commission has spent two years working hard to find a solution.
“Not hard enough,” Smith said. “Here’s what I want to know … what is on the table as far as a skateboard park is involved, as far as the Berlin youth is involved? Does anyone here know that information or have we just looked and talked about things for two years?”
Smith said he had heard about speculation surrounding a full-scale recreation center at the old Tyson plant, but, “that’s at least two years out if that Tyson plant goes through – at least.”
“We’re not going to have a skate park this year,” Dufendach said. “We’re not going to have a skate park next year. We can’t possibly get that done in two years.”
“There’s no reason a skate park can’t be had by sometime next year,” Smith countered. “Literally that’s completely feasible. What I’d like to know if how feasible is it to rally around the parks we have in Berlin and make it happen in one of those spaces that’s already available?”
Responding to a suggestion that Stephen Decatur Park might serve as a site, Dufendach and others on the commission said stormwater regulations made construction on existing Berlin parks unlikely.
“Part of the reason Stephen Decatur Park exists is that it is part of our stormwater management,” she said. “We are obligated to keep that, for the most part, as stormwater management.
“I’m not saying that you can’t do a skate park,” Dufendach continued. “I’m just saying it’s not going to be in Stephen Decatur Park and I don’t think that people want it in Henry Park.”
“I’m interested in all the children that can’t stop skateboarding,” Smith said. “What I’d like to propose is that it’s very feasible for a very small scale park. We’re not going to go overboard here. If this Tyson plant goes through, what’s going to happen there? Phenomenal skate park, I assume. I’ve heard talk. I’ve talked to Troy [Purnell] and all that good stuff.”
“The parks commission can’t really speak to that,” said Deputy Town Administrator Mary Bohlen.
“Let’s move on,” Smith said. “How do we make everybody happy? Let’s pool our resources and find a small, little hunk of land … to create a concrete bowl.”
Smith proposed a 50-foot by 50-foot concrete bowl to meet the interim needs of young skaters in Berlin.
“Let’s not be the town of Ocean City,” he said. “Let’s not be a municipal skate park that charges admission for children to enjoy themselves. We can get a small bowl on a piece of property. We don’t need a skate park. A bowl is self-sufficient.”
Smith speculated that donations and volunteers could make up the majority of construction costs.
“We have plenty of volunteers,” he said. “If we really wanted to … we could make it so that it works the way it’d supposed to.”
“We do not have a 50 by 50 square to place cement,” Dufendach said. “We don’t own property to do this. I think you need to talk to Worcester County. We would love to have it in Worcester County. I think talking to your county commissioners is the way to go here.”
Bohlen agreed.
“We went through all the possible areas the town already has control of,” she said. “The county seems like the best location.”
Members of the commission suggested Smith contact the Worcester county commissioners after the dust of the election settles.
“The parks commission has been very interested in a skate park, but we just can’t find a location with what we have to work with at the moment,” Bohlen said. “We don’t want it to come across that, ‘the Berlin parks commission said it was the county’s problem,’ but we don’t want something that is just thrown on any available piece of land that is obviously not really serious.”
Smith told the commission he and others estimated that the cost of a small bowl project would be between $30,000 and $40,000.
Asked about casino money, Town Administrator Laura Allen said the town set aside their revenue share for sidewalks and physical improvements, including a new police station.
“So the money has been used for sidewalks we’re not allowed to skateboard on and a police building that’s just going to hassle us more, but we still can’t find money for a skate park?” Smith asked. “I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. Obviously we need sidewalks, but I’m referring back to the whole thing that we can’t find money for a skate park. Don’t you think that if we could come in front of you guys with a tangible thing and said, ‘Look, we could get … land and with $35,000 we can have this done in nine months?’ Is that how we need to move forward as far as the parks commission so that we can present it to the county or the council?”
“That would certainly be a way to proceed,” Bohlen said. “You can’t apply for a grant without having some kind of a firm plan.”
The biggest challenge, said Allen, is location.
“What I hear you saying is money is not really an issue because you’ve got volunteers and you’ve got a grant source,” she said. “To apply for a grant you’re going to need to identify the location, what the construction costs are and have more of a plan than you have in place.”
Dufendach admitted she was enchanted by the pitch for a large-scale recreation facility made by local pro skater Matt Dove during the October council meeting. Dove also said that outside resources could be brought in to help the town to achieve that objective.
“He sold it so well on Monday night that I don’t think anyone’s going to be satisfied with less,” she said. “He made me want the whole big picture. Anything less than that now makes me feel cheapened.”
First, it was the mayor and council meeting on Oct. 27, when Beth Gourley kick-started the discussion of a recreation center large enough to hold skaters, bikers and a host of other indoor and outdoor community activities.
Then, at a parks commission meeting on Nov. 4, Berlin resident Benjamin Smith pitched a smaller scale skateboard facility that could be ready in as little as nine months.
Accompanied by a cadre of young people and their skateboards in the Town Hall meeting chambers, Smith dismissed commission member Patricia Dufendach’s assertion that the commission has spent two years working hard to find a solution.
“Not hard enough,” Smith said. “Here’s what I want to know … what is on the table as far as a skateboard park is involved, as far as the Berlin youth is involved? Does anyone here know that information or have we just looked and talked about things for two years?”
Smith said he had heard about speculation surrounding a full-scale recreation center at the old Tyson plant, but, “that’s at least two years out if that Tyson plant goes through – at least.”
“We’re not going to have a skate park this year,” Dufendach said. “We’re not going to have a skate park next year. We can’t possibly get that done in two years.”
“There’s no reason a skate park can’t be had by sometime next year,” Smith countered. “Literally that’s completely feasible. What I’d like to know if how feasible is it to rally around the parks we have in Berlin and make it happen in one of those spaces that’s already available?”
Responding to a suggestion that Stephen Decatur Park might serve as a site, Dufendach and others on the commission said stormwater regulations made construction on existing Berlin parks unlikely.
“Part of the reason Stephen Decatur Park exists is that it is part of our stormwater management,” she said. “We are obligated to keep that, for the most part, as stormwater management.
“I’m not saying that you can’t do a skate park,” Dufendach continued. “I’m just saying it’s not going to be in Stephen Decatur Park and I don’t think that people want it in Henry Park.”
“I’m interested in all the children that can’t stop skateboarding,” Smith said. “What I’d like to propose is that it’s very feasible for a very small scale park. We’re not going to go overboard here. If this Tyson plant goes through, what’s going to happen there? Phenomenal skate park, I assume. I’ve heard talk. I’ve talked to Troy [Purnell] and all that good stuff.”
“The parks commission can’t really speak to that,” said Deputy Town Administrator Mary Bohlen.
“Let’s move on,” Smith said. “How do we make everybody happy? Let’s pool our resources and find a small, little hunk of land … to create a concrete bowl.”
Smith proposed a 50-foot by 50-foot concrete bowl to meet the interim needs of young skaters in Berlin.
“Let’s not be the town of Ocean City,” he said. “Let’s not be a municipal skate park that charges admission for children to enjoy themselves. We can get a small bowl on a piece of property. We don’t need a skate park. A bowl is self-sufficient.”
Smith speculated that donations and volunteers could make up the majority of construction costs.
“We have plenty of volunteers,” he said. “If we really wanted to … we could make it so that it works the way it’d supposed to.”
“We do not have a 50 by 50 square to place cement,” Dufendach said. “We don’t own property to do this. I think you need to talk to Worcester County. We would love to have it in Worcester County. I think talking to your county commissioners is the way to go here.”
Bohlen agreed.
“We went through all the possible areas the town already has control of,” she said. “The county seems like the best location.”
Members of the commission suggested Smith contact the Worcester county commissioners after the dust of the election settles.
“The parks commission has been very interested in a skate park, but we just can’t find a location with what we have to work with at the moment,” Bohlen said. “We don’t want it to come across that, ‘the Berlin parks commission said it was the county’s problem,’ but we don’t want something that is just thrown on any available piece of land that is obviously not really serious.”
Smith told the commission he and others estimated that the cost of a small bowl project would be between $30,000 and $40,000.
Asked about casino money, Town Administrator Laura Allen said the town set aside their revenue share for sidewalks and physical improvements, including a new police station.
“So the money has been used for sidewalks we’re not allowed to skateboard on and a police building that’s just going to hassle us more, but we still can’t find money for a skate park?” Smith asked. “I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. Obviously we need sidewalks, but I’m referring back to the whole thing that we can’t find money for a skate park. Don’t you think that if we could come in front of you guys with a tangible thing and said, ‘Look, we could get … land and with $35,000 we can have this done in nine months?’ Is that how we need to move forward as far as the parks commission so that we can present it to the county or the council?”
“That would certainly be a way to proceed,” Bohlen said. “You can’t apply for a grant without having some kind of a firm plan.”
The biggest challenge, said Allen, is location.
“What I hear you saying is money is not really an issue because you’ve got volunteers and you’ve got a grant source,” she said. “To apply for a grant you’re going to need to identify the location, what the construction costs are and have more of a plan than you have in place.”
Dufendach admitted she was enchanted by the pitch for a large-scale recreation facility made by local pro skater Matt Dove during the October council meeting. Dove also said that outside resources could be brought in to help the town to achieve that objective.
“He sold it so well on Monday night that I don’t think anyone’s going to be satisfied with less,” she said. “He made me want the whole big picture. Anything less than that now makes me feel cheapened.”