The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutRes2003-093 I I I Postponed till budget hearings Sponsored by: Shealy CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA RESOLUTION 2003-93 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, AMENDING THE MANAGEMENT POLICIES OF THE EVAN CASEY SKATE PARK WHEREAS, a policy discussion and safety review of the skate park management was conducted by the City Council; and WHEREAS, the intent of the Seward community and City Council is to provide a Skate Park which is more safe than choices outside the park, and the intention is to retain a "Skate at your own risk" type of skate park; and WHEREAS, the bikes and scooters on the small court pose a safety threat, crowd skaters and further damage the ramps and elements; and WHEREAS, a fence will prevent skateboards from flying out of control into the bike path and park users and will allow staff to lock the park when it is closed; and WHEREAS, allowing only professionally engineered and built ramps and elements into the park allows for the safest choices and the shift of liability to the manufacturers. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, that: Section 1. Bikes and scooters are banned from the Evan Casey Skate Park Section 2. The administration is directed to budget for and install a fence at the park, at the completion of the Rotary Expansion. Section 3. Only professionally engineered and built ramps and elements are allowed in the park. Non-engineered ramps and elements will be removed. Section 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Council of the City of Seward, Alaska, this 25th day of August 2003. CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA RESOLUTION 2003-93 THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA fLAk fd:. \/~~ Stu Clark, Ma or AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Shafer, Branson, Orr, Valdatta, Amberg, Clark Dunham None None ATTEST: ( L ') 1tM }j1f,"M J LeWl , City Clerk . t...UII", !,~ f SE~ 5"" ~o ......... "t-9A '..~ '~.OR.4.. v v, (City Seal) ttY" ~.i;'" ~ .~. si"~O...).~ --- : ~ ,,~..~ ~ ~~.~l~~CO~~ ~~ OF ~ "".. Innl\" Agenda Statement Meeting Date: August 28, 2003 From: Karin Sturdy, Parks & Recreation Director Through: Phil Shealy, City Manager Agenda Item: Amend Skate Park Management Policies BACKGROUND & JUSTIFICATION On July 14, 2003, we brought some management issues before Council with a request to reverse or amend policies regarding the Skate Park. We also heard the latest information available on loss control measures from our AML/JIA representative, Steve Millea. We amended the information in the packet that night to request only the following: 1. Ban bikes and scooters; 2. Fence the park; and 3. Allow only professionally engineered elements (ramps, jumps, etc...) in the park. Since our park is Tier I park (meaning all the elements are lower than 48 inches high) it is no longer so strongly recommended that the park be supervised. Since it is not to be supervised, there is no way to require helmets and safety gear or a waiver/release, which were other recommendations we retracted. 1. Ban bikes and scooters from the park. Allow only skateboards and skates. The City has a dirt, pedal-BMX (Bike Moto-Cross) track in Forest Acres Park. The skaters are competing with these bikes and scooters for the precious square footage of the park. Often times, little kids too young to be on any element are using the park with their bikes. The bikes and scooters cause tremendous damage to the elements and should be banned. 2. Fence the park. For the safety reasons discussed in earlier presentations, it is recommended Council budget for fencing in the upcoming 2004 budget. A local contractor has given an estimate $22 per feet for heavy-gauge, 8' fence. 327 linear feet of border times $22 feet equals about $7,200. Add another 10% contingency for gates and vehicle gates, the total budget should be $8,220. Actual price quotes would hopefully come in lower, but may be slightly higher. The fence and gates prevents skateboards from sailing into passers-by and allows parks crew to lock the facility at closing hours and during off season dates. If so directed, SPRD will request funds for the fence in the 2004 budget and plan to install the fence following the completion of the Rotary expansion. SPRD: Mountains of Recreation. Page 2/ Skate Park Loss Control Measures... 3. Allow only professionally engineered elements. Currently, SPRD allows volunteers to meet with our parks maintenance professionals to design and build jumps or ramps (elements.) The positive aspects of this policy are that it allows improvements to the park without an impact to the park maintenance budget and it promotes volunteerism and donations to skateboarding. The negative impacts, however, outweigh that. When an element is professionally designed and built, those engineers assume the liability for the product. However, as we’ve seen with past donated elements, they can be quickly used-up by the hard-riding skateboarders without research and engineering standards in the design. Our staff researched and reviewed manufactured ramps, rails and elements, etc... (See attached information.) As mentioned, there are as many skate park options now as there are playground equipment suppliers. The crew recommends we purchase steel-frame elements with “Skatelite-Pro?” surfacing. We have added the Skatelite several years ago to our ramps and found it to be the preferred surface for our climate. (It skates well, too.) Council can choose from a variety of single elements or save money buy purchasing a manufacturer’s package set. To replace the “donated” elements with new equipment and retain the two SPRD-made (professionally engineered ramps), we could budget for the “RampRider” Silver III package at $18,500 plus shipping. Or a generous budget could replace all the equipment now with the Platinum III for $32,000 plus shipping. Any Risk Manager worth his/her salt will tell you that the largest price tag for safe, appropriate elements will be cheaper than any claim lost in an expensive court battle over the City’s negligence with poor equipment. In closing, there was also discussion about the appropriate time to close the skate park. Curfew is Sunday through Saturday, 12:01 am to 5:00 am. We feel it is appropriate to leave closing time at “dusk or 11 pm, whichever comes first” as it is now. Our park areas close at 11 pm, during the summer months. The campground quiet hours are 11 pm to 7 am. In the fall through spring, parks areas are closed at dusk. The fence and gates would allow the closing and locking of the park, which should alleviate late-hours complaints. CONSISTENCY CHECKLIST: Yes No 1. Comprehensive Plan n/a 2. Strategic Plan n/a 3. Not Applicable X FISCAL NOTE: Depending on policy decisions made by Council, there could be budget impacts from $8,220 for fencing alone to over $40,000 for fencing, plus ramps, plus shipping. The department will make request in the 2004 budget process based on Council wishes. Page 3/ Skate Park Loss Control Measures... Approved by Finance Department RECOMMENDATION: Council approve Resolution 2003-93 amending Resolution 99-079 and amending the management policies of the Evan Casey Skate Park. Postponed till budget hearings Sponsored by: Shealy CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA RESOLUTION 2003-93 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, AMENDING THE MANAGEMENT POLICIES OF THE EVAN CASEY SKATE PARK WHEREAS , a policy discussion and safety review of the skate park management was conducted by the City Council; and WHEREAS , the intent of the Seward community and City Council is to provide a Skate Park which is more safe than choices outside the park, and the intention is to retain a “Skate at your own risk” type of skate park; and WHEREAS , the bikes and scooters on the small court pose a safety threat, crowd skaters and further damage the ramps and elements; and WHEREAS , a fence will prevent skateboards from flying out of control into the bikepath and park users and will allow staff to lock the park when it is closed; and WHEREAS, allowing only professionally engineered and built ramps and elements into the park allows for the safest choices and the shift of liability to the manufacturers. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, that: Section 1 . Bikes and scooters are banned from the Evan Casey Skate Park Section 2 . The administration is directed to budget for and install a fence at the park, at the completion of the Rotary Expansion. Section 3 . Only professionally engineered and built ramps and elements are allowed in the park. Non-engineered ramps and elements will be removed. Section 4 . This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Council of the City of Seward, Alaska, this 25th day of August, 2003. CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA RESOLUTION 2003-93 ___________________________ THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA ____________________________ Stu Clark, Mayor AYES: Shafer, Branson, Orr, Valdatta, Amberg, Clark NOES: Dunham ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None ATTEST: ___________________________ Jean Lewis City Clerk (City Seal)