Posted: 3/10/04
By Danielle Strenke
Harris resident Ben Lucas hopes to open a skate park that would appeal to anyone who wants to skateboard, inline skate or ride BMX bikes.
Lucasís proposal to open the park was tabled Thursday, March 4 at the Harris City Council meeting. Council members said there simply was not enough information to give concept approval for the idea.
Lucas plans to open the skate park inside the Quonset-style building on Forest Blvd. on the south end of the city. His one-year plan includes opening the recreational facility to skaters and bikers with equipment such as skate ramps, rails and platforms.
ìWhat would you do for parking?î Harris Mayor Richard Hanson asked.
He said parking was the main issue with a proposal last year for an office building on the adjacent property.
Lucas said he has not drawn up a layout of the property, but he knows parking would be a concern. He told the council that he has not yet purchased the property.
Council members asked that Lucas come back with at least a rough sketch of how the property would be laid out.
ìThe best thing to do is draw up a layout where youíll put the building and parking, because you canít park on Forest Boulevard,î council member Dan Walton said.
Hanson said he is also concerned with the amount of truck traffic in the area, knowing that mostly youths will be using the park.
Lucas said he hoped to ask the county to lower the speed limit through the city on CR 30 (Forest Boulevard) to 30 mph. ìThat doesnít matter ñ they still speed through town,î Hanson said.
Walton asked if Lucas had an idea of how many parking spaces would be needed. ìWe canít have more than 35 people in the building so maybe cut that in half for the number of cars,î Lucas said.
Lucas said he doesnít expect the building will last long and eventually hopes to build a more permanent facility that would include an indoor ice arena.
The council tabled the proposal until Lucas can provide a detailed layout of the property with the building and parking spaces.
Hanson said he would want the council as well as Fire Chief John Pelant to review the plan before it is approved. Pelant voiced his concern to the council over a meeting that was cancelled the day before regarding the departmentís new rescue van.
ìWe canít drag our feet on this,î Pelant said. He said that it was decided last year to purchased the van for the department this year.
The van being used by the department currently, Pelant said is too old to refurbish or repair.
ìIt just isnít feasible,î he said. Pelant has looked at several used vehicles for sale throughout the country, but said it is difficult because vehicles typically sell quickly.
ìThen youíre talking about a lot of expense for someone to travel to get the vehicle too,î Pelant said.
Pelant asked how long the bid process would be on a new vehicle. ìDo we have to send out bid requests to a certain number of companies,î he asked.
City Attorney Kevin Shoeberg said it is not a requirement to send out for bid requests, but the city would send out for bids to selected companies.
He said there may also be a grant available to partially fund purchasing the vehicle. The cost of the vehicle is project to be between $90,000 to $120,000. The meeting was recessed to resume Wednesday, March 17 at 7 p.m.
The only agenda item on the special meeting will be discussing the process involved with purchasing the new fire department vehicle.
©ECM Post Review
6448 Main Street
North Branch, MN 55056
Telephone: 651-674-7025
Fax: 651-674-7026
E-mail: editor.postreview@ecm-inc.com