Frustration boils over at Board Selectmen meeting
Published on April 1st, 1998
Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting turned personal and downright ugly when the subject of a skateboarding and rollerblading was brought up for discussion.
Over a dozen skateboarders, concerned parents and members of the Youth Commission expressed their frustration over the two-plus year time frame in which discussions have been held without a resolution.
At Tuesday's meeting, The Youth Commission requested that the town proceed in constructing the skateboard and rollerblade park at Pomeworth Field on Pomeworth Street. All skateboarders in attendance, however, opposed this action citing safety concerns with the proposed contractor, Scituate Concrete and Piping.
"This has been a very long and drawn out process," said Frank Scarpa, a representative for the skateboarders. "This is a thing that's gone bad.
"I agree that this has dragged on, but I'd be remise to say that one of the reasons it has dragged on is Marc Grimaldi."
Scarpa claims that Grimaldi, a member of the Youth Commission and Chairman of the Skateboard and Rollerblade Committee, impeded the design and construction process by turning his back on the kids he was appointed to serve. He said that Grimaldi did not listen when the skateboarders expressed their safety concerns about Scituate Concrete which, they say, stems from faulty designs.
When the Skateboard and Rollerblade Committee voted against the proposed contractor by a vote of 6 to 1, Scarpa explained, Grimaldi, angered by the vote, went to the Youth Commission and attempted to push the plans through anyway.
"The kids aren't to blame for the time problems," Scarpa said. "I feel that Marc thought he couldn't get what he wanted."
Grimaldi, also present at the meeting, denied the accusations and told the Committee and those in attendance that, when the Youth Commission voted to approve Scituate Concrete as the contractor, he abstained from voting. He did say, however, that the company was the best option available for the town.
"It's not that I feel so strongly about Scituate," he said. "It's that there is no one else. We don't know that anyone would provide a safer park.
"Skating's inherently dangerous."
It was explained to the Board that a request for design prices were sent to 27 area contractors. This lengthy process resulted in only two replies; one from Scituate Concrete which estimated that a park with seven skating structure (i.e ramp and rails) would cost approximately $9,900 to construct, and the other from Iafrate Construction who estimated that seven structures would cost approximately $58,000 to construct.
Scarpa explained that the large disparity in price was due to Scituate molds which had been used in previous parks versus Iafrate's designs which would be made to spec according to the skateboarders wishes.
Scituate has constructed similar parks in several other communities including Allston and Danvers. According to one skateboarder, the Danvers park, which was constructed only nine months ago, is unsafe and is already deteriorating.
Youth Commission Vice Chairman Stephen Sylvester maintained that, for the price, Scituate remains the town's best and only option. The town would be able to appropriate anywhere from $9,000 to $12,000 to construct the park, Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting said.
"They have the experience," he said. "A lot of communities are going to them. There are issues... I think we can fix.'
Sylvester explained that the Youth Commission has taken the time to design the park in a safe way. Whereas the ramps in parks like Danvers' were made with extreme angles (up to 55 degrees), the ramps which would be built at Pomeworth would be less severe (angled at 20 to 25 degrees). The traffic pattern of the park has also been laid out, he explained, so that skateboarders and rollerbladers would not collide as they come off the ramps and rails.
The skateboarders continued their protest of the park, however, saying that the manner in which the ramps were built is a danger in itself, with no smooth transition occurring between the asphalt and the concrete ramps.
They requested that the town look into purchasing only one ramp and one or two rails for the time being. Additional ramps, they said, could be funded in the future through fund-raising efforts conducted by the skateboarders themselves.
"The kids from Stoneham really don't like (the Scituate-built playgrounds)," said David Armsden, a member of the Skateboard and Rollerblade Committee and also a skateboarder. "At first, there'll be plenty of kids playing there. (After a while) it will absolutely become a ghost town."
The Selectmen agreed.
"The kids, I think, have been taken out of the loop, "Selectman John Biggio said. "I don't think the adults skateboard so I don't think they'd know what works and what doesn't.
Chairman Al Conti agreed with Biggio, saying, "If the kids aren't going to a park built in this community for three cents, never mind $9,900, then it's really not it.
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