7 comments:

• Darrell Baumbach posted at 5:55 am on Wed, Oct 17, 2012.

  Posts: 9403

  Mr Irons stated... Mr. Baumbach if you could "careless" than why bother to comment about the skate park at all..

  No reason to distort what I said. I did not say I did not care about the park. That is an absurd conclusion. I was talking about the location of the park... if it is at Micki Grove , Lodi Lake or it's existing location, all is ok. We are talking about money. It costs money to have this park. The users of the park want tax payers to fund it's required expenses.
  I was suggesting a pay as you use approach. This would be more easy to implement and less expensive if we use an existing location that already accepts fees to use.

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• Gail Irons posted at 1:02 pm on Sun, Oct 14, 2012.

  Posts: 8

  Mr. Baumbach if you could "careless" than why bother to comment about the skate park at all. As for very few people use the skate park, you need to get out more often. The skate park was busy for the entire summer. If you charge for one park, then charge for all. It is not fair that only the kids who use the skate park get charged to use it while other kids can use "regular" parks, vandalise those parks and not have to pay the consequences. The skate park is a community park. You do not pay to use community parks. If they shut down the skate park then all of Kofu Park needs to be shut down - the tennis courts (which the people who use the tennis courts need to be charged a fee for using them) and the baseball diamond.

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• Darrell Baumbach posted at 4:11 pm on Thu, Oct 11, 2012.

  Posts: 9403

  I could care less where it is held personally. I only suggested it as it is already set up to collect fees so that people who want to use it pay for it.

  It could be left at the same location as long as the users of the facility were willing to pay for the construction to collect fees.

  My preference is to tear down the skate board structure ... very few people use this compared to the opoulation that funds it.

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• Jeff Hood posted at 8:13 pm on Tue, Oct 9, 2012.

  Posts: 25

  Our Recreation Commission discussed this issue only two weeks ago. The public asked for City staff to work on solutions. We have been doing that. To reopen the park without a plan would only encourage a repeat of the behavior that led to the closure. Staff has been looking at various options for opening the park in the near future. We will be discussing them at the Recreation Commission's next meeting on October 16.
  Jeff Hood
  Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services interim director

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• Gail Irons posted at 7:20 pm on Tue, Oct 9, 2012.

  Posts: 8

  Mickie Grove is a county park not a city park and that would defeat the purpose of having the skate park in Lodi. The real issue behind the skate park being closed is 15 to 20 young adults who have a substance abuse problem. Had Lodi Parks and Rec made an effort to contact the community earlier, maybe the park would not have to be closed at all. Six weeks is way to long.

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• Clint irons posted at 6:08 pm on Tue, Oct 9, 2012.

  Posts: 2

  That doesnt work with me. If we charge for the skatepark, then we need to charge kids to use the slides and swings at other parks. putting it out at Mickie Grove defeats the purpose, these kids are on bikes and skateboards, its far too unsafe for them to ride out there down West Lane. The percentage of kids that can afford to drive to other places is very small compared to kids that dont have the resources to get there. Parks are for the communinty and should be free. City of Lodi doesnt charge you to walk your dog at the dog park, they dont charge the bums to lay around and drink all day at Lawrence Park, and they dont need to charge children to use a facility thats free in every other city in California.

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• Darrell Baumbach posted at 7:20 am on Tue, Oct 9, 2012.

  Posts: 9403

  I too would like to thank the cities of Sacramento and Elk Grove for welcoming Lodi's displaced skaters, bikers and scooters with open arms..as the results show solutions for Lodi's concerns.

  As the letter stated, gas is expensive and traveling so far to participate in this activity shows real committment and determination to engage in this activity.

  If people are willing to pay for travel expenses, then lets establish a pay for use system where each person pays a monthly fee to the city of Lodi who wants to use it with unlimited access. Or, pay a per entry fee if monthly is not preferred. All can be paid for with the money that would have been spent on travel.

  Maybe moving the skate boarding facility to Micki Grove where fees can be collected would be the answer. This location is much closer than Sacramento and would avoid the bad activity of the current location since people have to pay to use.

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