The recent move by the City Council to charge a modest admission
fee for use of the skate park is the best solution to a problem
caused by some of the users themselves.
Users are disobeying the rules
The recent move by the City Council to charge a modest admission fee for use of the skate park is the best solution to a problem caused by some of the users themselves.
The park, located at the Centennial Recreation Center, opened late last month, and ever since has been inundated with skaters, bicyclists and others disobeying the simple rules of use. “Wear safety equipment” and “no riding in the parking lot” are two that seem to be the most abused.
City could be held liable
We live in a society of laws and personal accountability, where if a skater is injured without a helmet his or her parents should bear the entire cost of medical care. The problem is we also live in a time where lawsuits are easy to file against those with deep pockets, such as the city. And its concerns about injuries and the potential lawsuits that would likely follow that have officials worried. Recreation Manager Chris Ghione said that skate parks fall under the state’s health and safety code, which provides limited immunity from liability only if cities meet certain rules, such as requiring safety gear. So even with signs posted and a fence around the park, the city could be liable.
Skaters must earn respect
Initially, the city attempted other methods, such as closing the park to all users when more than a few were without safety equipment and kicking out only the abusers, to no avail. There was hope that the park users would self-regulate: the ones with helmets would implore the ones without to put gear on. But that hasn’t really happened. So, the $1 a day, or $15 a month fee to help defray the cost of hiring someone to monitor the park is the next best solution.
“We’ll just go skate behind buildings,” Daniel Stanco, 14, told reporter Natalie Everett. “The city’s the one that spent ($600,000) on this park. If they want to close it, it’s their loss.” That’s where the youth today are wrong. It’s not the city’s loss, it’s yours. The city built a beautiful facility that everyone could have used for free if the rules had been obeyed. You want to save a buck, skate in shopping center parking lots. But don’t complain when a Morgan Hill Police Officer hands out that $100 citation. To be respected, you must respect the community in which you live.
Act now:
Contact City Manager Ed Tewes at 779-7271 or
ci*********@mo********.gov
