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Plans underway for skate park expansion
The James B. Tedesco Memorial Skate Park could be rolling toward expansion after approval Tuesday by the Fort Scott City Commission.
Skate Park Committee Co-Convenor Nate Lyons and his wife, Bailey Lyons, appeared before the commission during its regular meeting with some positive news regarding the skate park, which is located parallel to U.S. Highway 69 between the Third and Sixth Street catwalks.
Nate said he was approached several weeks ago by Colorado businessman Steve Tedesco, who made considerable donations to the current venue, about Tedesco's interest in expanding the skate park.
Lyons said Tedesco plans to make a $50,000 donation to expand the skate park, which is currently 3,000 square feet and cost about $90,000 to build. The skate park is named after Tedesco's late brother, James B. Tedesco. The plan is to build onto the existing skate park by adding a skater's "bowl" and some other features, Lyons said.
"We have a basic design put together," Lyons said in an earlier interview. "We'll leave a majority of the existing park open while construction is going on. We'll build more of a plaza-style area, with stairs and rails in more of a street-style. We had a limited budget before. We tried to fit as many elements as possible, but we left out a lot of things like street-style elements. There are a few but there can always be more."
Lyons presented commissioners with design plans showing the outline of the current park and details on what the proposed expansion will entail. The expansion would also include an area for younger beginning skaters and will allow all skaters who use the park to "spread out a little bit," Lyons said.
"It will flatten things out a bit," he said. "The younger kids can stay in the lower traffic areas. The designs look great. We're really on the right track."
Mayor Cindy Bartelsmeyer asked Lyons if city funds would be needed to help pay for the planned expansion. Lyons said private funds should cover the cost of the expansion and no taxpayer dollars or fundraising efforts would be needed. Donated funds would go through the city, which owns the park.
"We may end up getting more than originally pledged," he said. "We still have a little bit of groundwork."
City Manager Dave Martin said the city will help with dirt work during the construction process if needed. After commissioners approved moving forward with the project, Martin said the next step in the process will involve Lyons obtaining a contractor for the project.
In an earlier interview with Lyons, he said Tedesco has visited the skate park and the area frequently and "is pleased to see all the kids there when he visited."
"He mentioned an expansion project and asked, 'Are you interested?," Lyons said. "I said, 'yeah, absolutely.' I got some designs pulled together. I started contacting the same construction company and put together some designs. He (Tedesco) contributed a lot of the last part."
On a recent visit, Lyons presented Tedesco with three different designs at different budgets so Tedesco could choose the most suitable design for the project. Tedesco's recent donation should also cover the cost of installing lights at the skate park.
"We had started to do lights but we ran out of budget last time," Lyons said.
Currently, the park is only open during daytime hours.
"In the hotter months, they (skaters) go down when it's a little bit cooler," Lyons said.
The skate park, which opened in 2012, was funded by grants and contributions for several donors, including Tedesco who made a $25,000 donation to help the committee reach its goal to build the skate park. Tedesco also made a separate $7,000 donation that year to help improve the park's aesthetics, such as landscaping and the addition of color to concrete in the skate park.
Lyons said once started, construction on the expansion should take about six weeks. He said he is "proud of the park the way it is" and looks forward to the benefits an ever larger skate park could provide.
"I'm happy a whole new generation of skateboarders are taking interest," he said. "We already have a first-class park attracting skaters from other communities. With extra square footage, it would be comparable to upper class parks in bigger cities and draw more people in. It's exciting."
In other business Tuesday:
* Bartelsmeyer read a proclamation declaring July 26 as Kansas All-Star Football Shrine Bowl Day in Kansas. The 41st annual All-Star Football Game is scheduled for July 26 in Pittsburg. Each year, the Shriners of Fort Scott have sponsored Fort Scott High School youth to participate in the annual game. FSHS student Brendon Blackburn was recognized this year because of his ability and dedication. Blackburn was present with his father, Lee Blackburn, as well as USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham and FSHS Head Football Coach Bob Campbell for the recognition.
* Bartelsmeyer also read a proclamation declaring July 1 as Chad Cross Day in Fort Scott. Cross, a native Kansan and longtime resident of Fort Scott, has been recognized by his peers and the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association as the 2014 National Rodeo Coach of the Year. Cross is the head rodeo coach at Fort Scott Community College and is a former college rodeo participant.
* Commissioners approved a request by Water Treatment Plant Supervisor Michael Mix to proceed with an engineering study by the Kansas City, Mo.-based Larkin Lamp Rynearson for improvements at the plant for sludge removal and relocation of the disinfection feed point at the plant. Mix said the study will "help provide a solution" to issues staff at the water plant have been having with lagoons. The study is meant to find a solution to control flows, eliminate sewer backups and possibly recover for reuse of sludge. Relocation of the disinfection feed point will improve efficiency of the treatment process, and result in chemical cost savings, Mix said.
The cost of the study is $15,500 and is included in the city's budget.
* Commissioners also approved a request by Mix to proceed with engineering services by Mid America consultants for improvements of the system control and data acquisition (SCADA) system that is used by the city's water treatment and wastewater treatment plants, water distribution and wastewater collections departments. The SCADA system software that controls the water treatment plants is outdated, Director of Information Technology Slayden Davis said. The software update will tie together currently separate systems and provide remote access, which the city currently does not have. Davis said the update will provide more efficiencies and will upgrade the current system.
Commissioners approved engineering services at a cost not to exceed $13,100.
* Director of Finance Jon Garrison provided commissioners with an update on the city budget process that is currently underway. Garrison said that while city officials recently received some bad news in that assessed valuations have decreased about $1 million this year, they received some good news in that health insurance rates rose only 5 percent rather than the anticipated 10 percent. Garrison said keeping the city's mill levy flat becomes "a greater challenge every year" with continued losses of revenue, although it is the city's intent, under Martin's direction, to not increase the mill levy.
* Commissioners approved the consent agenda, which included appropriation ordinances totaling about $1 million and a waiver of the city's fireworks ordinance for July 4.