On the more positive side of posting, here are some more skatepark notes, for
which you can always hit 'delete', if not interested.
Bruce is the chair of the youth commission and began the meeting with the
caveat that it was not official -- not having been posted 24 hours in advance,
the yc could not legally take any action, could not vote. The yc will bypass
the previous agenda and deal specifically with skatepark (sp) discussion.
Present were 8-12 skaters, varied across the meeting, 4 commissioners (B, D, K,
G) the youth coordinator (J) and Be, M, and L from the fnsp, and me.
B: we're easy, not adversarial.
J reads rules that are posted outside of park at B's request
G notes sp hours are not included in rules.
Be says she wrote them by hand on another sign.
B: how did we get to these rules?
Be: N did first draft and had talked to geth and stephanie
B: are there differences between the first draft and the current ones?
Be: yes. biggest change in helmets, changing from being strongly recommended
to being required. elbow and knee pads were recommended.
(people discuss the 18 rule)
B: is this (safety rules) the biggest issue?
Be: yes for them (points to skaters)
b: are helmets oK?
positive response from some skaters amid noise.
Ja: (Jamie from boston who did ribbon cutting stunt, and who did welding after
Tamara left airspeed) has skated 16 years in many states and countries. would
like to see process smoothed along. Most towns are new to building skateparks
and don't know how to handle them.
K: do you have recommendations?
Ja: elbow, knee pads will not prevent broken bones. built sp in nashua last
year and had similar rules. no mandatory oversight. police showed up
occasiionally and had kids thrown out cause they did not have helments --
several could not afford one.
B: the issues of liability are moot. sees this the same as a person getting
hurt at some other city park -- city not liable.
s1: (skater1 from merrimac. he had started skating in the 80's and ran from
police -- hid in church yards where police wouldn't go ) there is less risk
from skaters than people on the street getting hurt -- skaters expect injury.
D: you guys ok with helmets?
several: yeah.
s1: talks of running out and sliding out of stunts and role of pads
D: how did rules get changed?
L: a group of people have discussed padding for under 18. N was involved.
E.M. and DH involved. everyone wears padding. research not done to support
decision. mayor has said topic is open for discussion.
B: this is not a legal meeting -- must post for 24 hours.
K: how is the sp going?
A ( also a sp guard): unbelievable. has skated since he was 2 years old. pads
do not stop broken bones. rules make hte sp guard job otugher. elbow/knee
pads should be nixed.
Be: more research from other sp's needed.
\
Ja: other parks started with full pad rules, then rules were softend. new sp
and new experience for towns. this is the first quality sp in massachusetts.
B: refereing to rules. we were going down one road then turned. (he was
addressing the issue of the sp posted rules being different than the ones the
yc voted on)
L: to skaters -- why not have knee and elbow pads?
Ja: I wear full pads in the advanced bowl and when learning. smaller stuff
requires more freedom of body. my own pads are designed for high impact but
are clumsy. i also know how to fall.
L: you're experineced. what about younger kids in smaller bowl?
Ja: will probably be up to parents. kids idolize pros and they don't wear
pads. htere are videos of them not wearing pads. pros don't wear pads of
helmets.
you learn by doing (refering to making rules). what i react most strongly to
is skateboarding is supposed to be the same as a baseball or soccer, but it is
not. we are fenced in and we were shuffled out at 5 pm on sunday, while the
soccer game continued.
B: is there ANY research on the pros and cons of wearing pads? My own personal
opinion is that if you get pads at kmart, you are not getting much.
L: EM who owns city sports donated pads to supply to sp.
Be: I want to think the pads issue through.
B: when did the yc take control of the rules? how is it that we approved one
set of rules and a second set appeared?
K: remember the school committee gave us ownership
B: we approved the management plan and some rules.
L: the second set were done unilaterally
B: we cannot make a decision tonight
K: not a decision
Be: would love to see kids in pads. wouold like to see skategaurds (sg)
enforce rules.
Ja: there are mixed messages all over the place.
B: no consistency?
(discussion debrifing the existence of guards -- other parks don't have them,
but they were necessary to sell park to neighborhood)
Ja: sunday was not a pretty scene. a person ( we think D--) overreacted, ran
around park saying the skaters could not be there. it was an adult fnsp
volunteer.
J: I was left holding the bag with antagonized skateboarders -- older
skateboarders. we need a chain of command. someone butted in when he
shouldn't
G: we should go according to the rules that are posted.
J: winces/shrugs.
B: who is responsible for rules? rules are not approved. need communication
to clear this up. concurs that we need to stick to what is posted.
Be: there is a 3 month review
B; the unilaterally implemented rules are not approved by yc
J; concurs with Ja -- skaters being treated differently. need straightforward
policy. the over/under 18 rule is tought to implement. not in favor of
cutoff.
B: where did that rule come from?
J: is was an alternative that was suggested, is circulating around. mentions
airspeed boycott threat.
Ja: felt bad because he told people it was open. it puts you in a bad
situation.
(digression with a parent whose child wanted to use a skooter in teh park)
L: geth said bikes nad skooters have a lot of metal and are tough on concrete
Ja: bikes and skateboards don't mix too well.
B: table this discussion
L: havge agent looking at insurance for sp -- her impression is that a pads/no
pads rule is inconsequential to the policy.
J: past experience is that insurance offers a set of recommendations and nbpt
has met most of those. wrt sg, most city and towns don't staf their parks but
nbpt need to sell to the ocmmunity.
B: we approved the first set of rules, not the second set.
J: will enforce rules as they are, but will mention they are under review.
B: they may chnage tomorrow morning
G: 3 month review
B: I'd like to get this to conclusion.
M: one skater had only a pad on one elbow -- also "helmet" needs to be defined.
hard hats, bike helmets, anything hard is being used.
B: not defined? needs to be defined. 3 mo is a long time on helmet
definition. pad rule may be fixed tomorrow morning.
someone mentions sp providing helmets.
Ja: borrowing a helmet is a problem with hygience/lice.
K: perhaps we can make a deal with a distributor to get helmets inexpensivley
so kids can afford them.
Ja: enthusiastically -- can line up a contact tiwth distribution channels
B: need to post a meeting on helmets
Ja: cost about $20/helmet.
J; get 3 prices. chap 30b
J: other things have changed with heat it does not make sense to enforce no
food or drink. but concerned aobut trash
D: need container inside.
J: agrees.
ice cream truck mentioned.
J: truck not in violation of ordnance. there is a $100 smoking fine on school
property.
Be: put up 'green signs' that announce no smoking rule like at bresnahan
school.
Sunday hours complaint by skaters.
J: city ordnance also eliminated sunday morning soccer because of neighbor
complaints.
I mention my observations -- the history of noise, parking and traffic in the
neighborhood. beer drinking and speeding after games -- set the scene with the
sp coming in. my wife nad i supported park and now neighbor won't talk to me
anymore. city has put up no parking signs nad residents are enforcing it.
perhaps with time, things will settle.
M: we need no music
Ja: no one would care if there were music or no music anyway. and 60 people in
the park are maneagble but its hard for the first month - it is popular.
skateboarding not being a team sport, people don't understand. but there are
mechanisms for holding things in check, a kind of etiquette.
M: mentioned fee. several nbpt kids could not skate on sunday. and sp owes
$20K on $160k cost. someone has written a personal check for $10k to
temporarily hold off debtors.
]J: is that an image that nbpt wants to have. mentioned wealthy town that
charges $5 for out-of-towners
B: if out of towners come during the week
J: talked to mayor and marshalla nd will have police details on the weekends 4
hours per day. some police officers were not for the p[ark. will get
telephones for guards to handle emergencies. cpr and 1st aid trianing for
guards
B: the skatepark is not a daycare center.
J; buit having staff your standard of care is increased
Ja: I'm not objecting to the police presence -- it is good educationally for
hte police, for them to see the skaters.
B: will call mayor in the morning. these rules we did not buy into. will call
togetyher a meeting about other rules.
(concludes)
=====
"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly become the author of something beautiful."
[Norman Maclean in "A river runs through it."]
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 01 2001 - 01:02:00 PDT