Promise

broken,

skate park

proponents

charge

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM-- The city council's 3-2 vote quashing an attempt to move forward with a bid letting in August for construction of the skateboard park has its proponents charging broken promise.

The leader of the park's proponents, Rod Sanchez of New Ulm Stake Park Inc., backed Councilor Ron Fleischmann's view that the city had promised the park would be built in an expeditious manner.

"We were promised a park by everyone on the council," Sanchez said Wednesday. "Ron's statement is totally correct. The city gave us a challenge to raise $15,000, and the city would give us $85,000 to build the park."

Sanchez said, at the time, the organization had a preliminary estimate of $85,000 to build the park. The city engineer's current estimate is that it would cost slightly more than $100,000.

"When we met with the council later, Councilor (Clark) Tuttle was all for giving us the money then, but Councilor (Joel) Albrecht said he preferred having the money disbursed as the construction progressed," Sanchez recalled.

"What bothers me is that the promise was made, and for (Council President) Dan (Beranek) to say that there wasn't isn't very honest," Sanchez continued.

"This skate park was for the kids who were always being told they can't skate here, and when they asked, 'where can we skate?' were told, 'we don't know.'"

Sanchez said he considered the council's action a "slap in the face" for the kids who helped raise the money. "They worked really hard, selling lollipops and doing about anything to raise that money. And they did it, in fact, we have raised nearly $17,000 for the park."

That amount includes a check for $5,000 from the New Ulm Area Foundation which had agreed last year to match the money raised by NUSPI on a one-dollar-for-two-raised basis.

Sanchez said his group originally was promised money from the sales tax referendum proceeds.

"We contacted at least 200 voters and urged them to vote for the proposal. Then, we were told that the money would come from the city's reserves. Now, we're being told there was no promise at all. That stinks."

Sanchez also took issue with comments made by Beranek that, with a bid letting in August, a completed skate park wouldn't be usable until next spring.

"We were just in Buffalo looking at their park where they're using prefab ramps, and basically what we're being told by them and other communities with parks is that the kids can use them until the snow flies," Sanchez said.

Buffalo officials also told his group the prefab ramps work fine, and Sanchez is looking into the cost of prefabs as a possible alternative.

"What's there to building a skate park?" Sanchez asked. "All it is are a bunch of ramps on a slab of concrete; it could be up and running in a couple of weeks, tops."

Denis Warta, representing the New Ulm Area Foundation, said he's not concerned about the skate park's future. "It will get built; it's just a question of when," he said.

Nor is he worried about the $5,000. "It's stipulated that it can only used for the skate park."