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Skateboard ordinance may be passed

By Barbara Brown
The North Branch City Council is considering an ordinance that would make it illegal for skateboarders to use their equipment in the cityís business district.
Shortly after the city spent thousands building a skateboard park adjacent to the North Branch High School property, skateboarders started coming to the intersection of Elm and 6th and Elm and 7th streets on a regular basis.
They loiter at City Hall, cause traffic problems near Abundant Life Church, and cause congestion, noise and concern at Nelsonís Market and the Post Office.
The group also leaves trash behind when they leave.
All those complaints have been filed with the North Branch Police Department since the beginning of the year, Police Chief Jules Zimmer told the council during its June 5 work session.
ìThe kids seem to be more belligerent, they refuse to move, residents call police and the kids move somewhere else,î Zimmer told the council.
Zimmer said last year the police department received 44 calls complaining about skateboarders.
He said as of May, the department had received more than 20.
He played a tape of one womanís complaint in which she said her vehicle was hit by a water balloon thrown by one of the skaters as she drove down 6th Street at Abundant Life Church.
The skaters are not affiliated with the church.
ìThey have an attitude I donít like and Iím tired of driving around those kids and getting looked at and stared at,î the woman on the tape said.
ìThe attitude these kids have stinks.î
Zimmer said some skateboarders have told him and other officers that they do not use the skate park on Grand Avenue because it is so crowded and it is not challenging.
The highest ramp in the park is 3 feet tall.
He said another contributing factor is that skateboarders from Stacy, Harris and other cities are coming to North Branch to use the park.
City planner Al Cottingham said the cityís insurance provider recently increased the height of ramps it would cover for liability from 3 feet to 4 feet.
He said the city could look into building a more challenging park or a second park altogether.
He said if the park were to have equipment taller than 4 feet, it would have to be fenced and a city employee would have to staff the park.
He said that would mean the skaters would have to pay to use it and the city did not want to have to resort to that option.

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