Skate park idea garners joint City- County Park Board support but still faces logistical and planning hurdles

Since the concept for a skate park in Lincoln was first introduced last fall, it has won the support of the Lincoln Community Council, Lincoln Park Board and, most recently, the City-County Parks board. However, at Friday’s Lincoln Government Day meeting, it became clear there are still a few hoops to jump through.

Commissioner Susan Good Geise, who was replaced on the board by Commissioner Andy Hunthausen at the first of the year, apologized for a scheduling snafu in December that forced the Skate Park Committee to make their presentation to a three-person group that included the board president and the interim city-county parks director. Although the proposal received a very positive reception, she said it also raised questions.

Lewis and Clark County Administrator Roger Baltz said since the proposed park is on county property, the county must follow up on legal steps, including liability, maintenance and project management.

Balz suggested the next step for the Skate Park Committee should be a presentation of the concept and site plan to the county commissioners so it can be formally approved.

“Whenever the county moves forward with a project, what we’ll typically do is develop a budget for it. Once the funding’s been identified we’ll typically put together a project management team with a project manager for it,” he said.

He said he’d also like clarification on volunteer labor and contractors for the project, since there are specific rules the county must follow regarding both.

County Public Works Director Eric Griffin would have oversight on the skate park’s upkeep and agreed the committee definitely has a vision for what it wants to do, but said future maintenance needs to be part of the consideration.

“People build things, they construct them, then they walk away and don’t realize that after that things have to be maintained,” he said.

“This is at the part that’s so hard,” Geise said. “If I was sitting in your chair and not in mine, I would be pretty frustrated by some of this, but the fact is, this is public. Our requirements seem ridiculously stringent, but those are just the sad facts of today. This will not be quick, but we hope to get it right.”

Karyn Good, who has been working with the Skate Park Committee to coordinate the park’s development, said they funding they already have lined up from Jeff Ament’s Montana Pool Service Foundation is for this summer, which she conceded was clearly too soon. She said they’ve reached out to the organization to find out if funding would still be available in 2020.

The Skate Park Committee has a preliminary plan done for the site. Commission Chairman Jim McCormick said he’d like to see what the project looks like, what needs to be done and a projected completion date.

Good said they should be able to out a presentation together by next month. Geise said they once they get that out of the way, the commissioners will expedite it from their side.

Good explained that they need to have an OK from the county to site the skate park on county property so they can look for additional grants for the project.