Evergreen Skateparks fields construction, budget questions during Lincoln visit

As the effort to create a skate park in Lincoln takes shape, the Lincoln Skatepark Committee find itself in need of an organization to contract with Evergreen Skateparks for the construction of the facility, and to serve as a fiscal sponsor for the young organizations.

Karyn Good, who has been helping coordinate the project with Lincoln School English teacher Phil Reed and the students who make up the skatepark committee, asked the Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce at their meeting last week to consider serving as the organization to contract with Evergreen.

Good's request came about following an April 5 meeting with Evergreen Skatepark owners Billy and Catherine Coulon and county officials. The Coulons met with Good, Reed, Lewis and Clark County Commissioner Susan Good Geise, Public Works Director Eric Griffin, County Planning Director Peter Italiano and County Engineer Dan Karlin to clear up questions about the project budget and about the process for building a skatepark at Hooper Park with county approval, yet without their direct involvement in the construction.

Eric Griffin explained that if the county is involved in the construction or design of the skatepark, it would be legally required to go through a procurement and bidding processes, which would add time and red tape to project.

Catherin Coulon said the other parks they've built in Montana,- nearly a dozen of them- have been privately funded, with one exception. Private funding allows a non-governmental organization to raise the money for the park and to contract with Evergreen for its construction. Once the skatepark is completed, its usually gifted to the community, or since Lincoln is unincorporated, to the county.

In most cases, the private organization they work with is an established 501c3 that handles both fundraising and contracting, but that isn't the case with the recently founded Skatepark Committee, which is why they need to find other established non-profits to work with.

Although the LVCC agreed to consider Good's request, they can't act as the fiscal sponsor, due to their status as a 501c6. The Skatepark Committee had been in talks with the Helena Area Community Foundation for fiscal sponsorship, but that hit a snag due to an unexpected fee the organization would charge, so they find themselves still in need of a 501c3 non-profit to help them raise tax deductible donations.

During the April 5 meeting, with the county, the Coulons also answered questions about the project budget. From the county perspective, the main concern is ensuring the project doesn't get underway, only to find itself over budget midway through.

The Coulons explained thats not likely to happen since Evergreen Skateparks' success is due to their flexibility in working with communities. Billy Coulon estimated the skate park in his draft design for Lincoln would cost about $200,000 to build, but he said it can be scaled down if the funds aren't there to build it when the time comes.

Catherine Coulon said their mode of operation is to assess how much money has been raised, and create a final design based on that.

"When that time comes, we'll work with whatever you have," she said.

The Skatepark Committee has a $50,000 commitment from Pearl Jam drummer Jeff Ament, who works to develop skateparks in rural communities in Montana. He has also agreed to match another $50,000 in fundraising. The committee is seeking additional funding through grants from the Montana Skatepark Association and the Tony Hawk Foundation. A significant local donation is also in the cards.

Billy Coulon said they will work within the budget and can adjust one way or another, but since shrinking a park is so painful, they'll work any way they can to get the full skate park built. "We're just trying to make as much skate park as possible," he said, but also pointed out that if they have to build a small skatepark at the outset, they can come back add on to it as more money is raised.

The Coulon's said in-kind donations of material, supplies or equipment can also help them meet or expand on the design, and they agreed to provide Good with a list of the in-kind contributions that are most useful.

As an example, Catherine Coulon said they received help in the form of machinery and dirt hauling that helped them improve the park they built in Stevensville, which had a budget of just $180,000. They said the city got a "tremendous deal" thanks to the in-kind support.

"We're always looking for an excuse to make a skate park bigger," Billy Coulon said.

Colette LeMieux, a Civil Engineer with Pioneer Technical, also attended the April 5 meeting to find out what they can contribute. She said they may be able to help with groundwater monitoring to verify the depth of the water table at the Skatepark site, or with surveys to establish the topography, boundaries, rights of way and other encroachments at the site.

Evergreen had the Lincoln Skatepark construction penciled in for this summer, but said it's up to the community and the skatepark group to let them know when they're feeling comfortable moving forward.

Good said they will probably be better off waiting until 2020, to ensure they can raise as much money as possible for the project.

"I know Jeff really wants the project to start this summer. Phillip and I really talked about that. I really feel like, as far as money and funding go, it's going to have to be 2020, and even at that we're gonna have to be hustling."

Once the skate park is completed, Billy Coulon said it should require minimal maintenance if it's resealed every couple years.

Giese, who has lived or worked in many of the communities where Evergreen has built other skate parks, sounded confident in Evergreen's reputation, despite the difficulty in nailing down a specific budget. She said she knows people in those communities who would let her know if they were doing anything less that an excellent job.

"I've not heard anything negative at all," she said.