MAY 7, 2009 ISSUE
One More Month
Watauga Commissioners Give Skatepark Users One More Chance To Follow Rules
Watauga County Parks and Recreation Director Stephen Poulos, left, looks on as Appalachian Skatepark Council member Buzz Berry, right, addresses the Watauga County Board of Commissioners concerning the possible closing of the Appalachian Skatepark. On Monday, May 4, the commissioners deferred the decision to their regular meeting on Monday, June 1, effectively granting the skatepark users one month to prove they can follow the rules of the park and wear helmets and pads while they skate. Photo by Sam CalhounAn April progress report from Watauga County Parks and Recreation Director Stephen Poulos claimed that users of the Appalachian Skatepark, located off State Farm Road in Boone, were still not wearing proper equipment—primarily knee and elbow pads—and that park usage has dipped to an all-time low of five skateboarders per day.
After the report was presented to the Watauga County Board of Commissioners on Monday, May 4, members of the Appalachian Skatepark Council (ASC) argued that pads limited mobility for skateboarders and that the park should remain open. What’s more, ASC member Buzz Berry suggested making the park private and charging nominal fees for its use. The fees, Berry said, would be spent on an attendant, maintenance and to pay off the remaining $30,000 balance on the skatepark loan that, currently, is the responsibility of three ASC members—Berry, Brian Mueller and Ken Gordon.
ASC member Mueller joined Berry in his questioning of whether or not Poulos was fair in his handling of the skatepark since it opened almost three years ago, and he offered his own plan: hold off on closing the park, allow for ASC members to police the park and find out what other municipalities are doing to make their skateparks open, viable and safe.
“The Watauga County Parks and Recreation Commission has dealt with this issue more than any other over the past 2.5 years,” said Jim Deal, board chair. “We’ve debated it; we’ve discussed it. It’s the most frustrating thing I’ve had to deal with in terms of recreation since becoming a commissioner.”
The Appalachian Skatepark opened in July 2006 after four community members co-signed a loan from High Country Bank to purchase an $80,000 pre-fabricated skatepark setup. Watauga County provided $20,000 toward the purchase and a space for the skatepark at the Watauga County Parks & Recreation Complex off State Farm Road in Boone, and the Town of Boone donated in-kind paving services. Over the past two years, though, the park has seen its shares of ups and downs. The park started as unsupervised but over the past two years it has gone from supervised by a security firm, to supervised by a community member, to unsupervised during the winter and, finally, to facing closure after the Watauga County Parks & Recreation Commission voted 13-1 in March to cease operation of the park based on conduct and budget concerns. In the beginning of April, ASC members appealed the decision to close the park, asking for an attendant—not a security firm—to be placed back at the park. The commissioners agreed but asked Poulos to provide a progress report on the skatepark during the commissioners’ May 4 regular meeting.
In the progress report, Poulos said he used several attendants throughout April at the skatepark and that the number of skateboarders using the park on average was five per day since April 14. Poulos said the number of users during fall 2008 when the security guard supervised the park was nine per day, and that when an attendant replaced the security guard the numbers increased to 12 per day. Poulos also reiterated that the majority of users were still not wearing full gear—helmets and pads—and were not open to taking suggestions from attendants, one of which quit during April because of frustrations with the clientele.
“This is like your fourth or fifth second chance,” said Deal to the ASC members. “Still, 75 to 80 percent [of the users] are not following the rules, and you have to understand that a county cannot condone a county activity when rules are not being followed.”
“It seems to be that the majority is not following the rules—if the minority was, then we could maybe make an exception,” said Commissioner Billy Ralph Winkler.
“We’ve said this from the very beginning: if you follow the rules, you could stay open. If you don’t, then you have to close,” added Deal.
After the progress report was presented, Deal said he “would probably recommend closing the park,” but after appeals from Berry and Mueller, the commissioners deferred the decision to their regular meeting on Monday, June 1, effectively granting the skatepark users one month to prove they can follow the rules of the park and wear helmets and pads while they skate.
“We’ll consider it for one more month, but nothing after that. Every meeting seems to say the same thing,” said Winkler.
During the meeting, Berry argued that wearing pads limits mobility. The commissioners argued that, because the law says that users must wear helmets and pads to free a municipality of any and all liability, it is a rule that must be followed.
“We can’t enforce half the law,” said Deal.
“It’s black and white,” said Watauga County Attorney Andrea Capua. “I can say in no uncertain terms that we can’t enforce one and not the other. You can try and get legislators to change the law, but until then we are the ones held liable.”
“Whatever the law is, we will enforce it. If it changes, we can revisit it,” said Deal. “For now, we can’t ignore part of what the law says.”
Berry, who has previous experience operating a skatepark, is now thinking about closing his business, BZB Productions, to manage the skatepark if the commissioners grant permission.
“It really would be a shame to close the park. We took out a loan to build this thing for the community—none of it was selfish,” said Berry.
“And I think that’s why we dealt with this so much,” replied Deal. “No one wants it to close, it seems, except the skaters.”
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