The meeting was held at City Hall at noon. Present were Larry DeKnoblough, Bob Beltrami, Jim Mulheren, Jonathan Whipple, Matt Wilson, Marianne Mulheren, Mimine Ambrois, Randall Feare, Ed Keller, Justin Capri and Carole Aleshire (recorder).

Pizza was enjoyed by all, thanks to Jim (again!)!

Introductions were made.

Additions to the Agenda:

• Active Living Committee (Larry)
• A grant opportunity (Larry)

Appoint a Committee Chair and Co-Chair: The need is apparent to have a chair and a co-chair appointed to plan and facilitate these meetings. Volunteers were requested. Ed volunteered for Chair and Bob for Co-Chair. They were nominated as such, seconded and accepted unanimously. We're official! Ed took over facilitation of the meeting.

Report from 501(c)(3) Subcommittee: For the meeting scheduled for Dec. 20, Ed and Matt were the only ones to show. There was renewed commitment to this subcommittee and a meeting was set for next Friday, Jan. 17 at noon in Conference Room 1 at the Ukiah Civic Center. Meetings will be regularly scheduled for the 3rd Friday of each month at the same time and place. Members of this subcommittee, as signed up at the Dec. 13 meeting, are: Ed Keller, Mimine Ambrois, Bob Beltrami, Joy Beeler, Maggie Lohse, Robert Brackett, JR Vaughan, Charlie Byrne, Fabian Ledesma and Justin Capri.

Carole reported that she had received a call from Michael Kisslinger of NCO, who has a lot of experience helping groups obtain tax exempt status. He is willing to talk to the group about the steps necessary, the cost involved and other options to be considered. Mimine will call and invite him to the Jan. 17 meeting.

Larry will do an agenda and email it and a reminder to all members of the subcommittee. It should be noted that not all of those who signed up for this subcommittee are on the Resource List-perhaps Justin has phone numbers for these people.

Report on First Night booth: Mimine reported that she and her husband and Rex Eiffert covered the booth for the evening with a good turnout of interested kids and lots of enthusiasm for a skatepark in Ukiah. They colored in skateboarding pictures with prizes going to the most outstanding pictures, a t-shirt for best job by teenager, fingerboards for the top two younger kids. The kids and their parents also expressed their enthusiasm on posters set up for the purpose, to be expanded upon at future events and displayed for the City Council and elsewhere as appropriate. Larry reported that overall there was not a great turnout for First Night, but it could have been the weather keeping people home.

Larry reported that the soils report clears the site for development of a skatepark, but specifics will depend on the design of the park. There are some issues about setback from the creek which should pose no problems. We may need to do some substructural work once the digging is begun, as the soils testing was fairly shallow and soil structure could become an issue adding cost to development. Larry will make copies of this lengthy report and bring them to the next meeting for viewing. We talked about putting soils test conclusions on the website but concluded that it can be reported there (herein) and if anyone wants a copy of the report they can email Larry at larry@cityofukiah.com.

Matt asked Jonathan if he though Matt could address the board of the Ukiah Playhouse to hear their concerns and express his thoughts. Jonathan said he would request it for the agenda of the next meeting, this coming Monday.

Status Update of North Fire Station Appraisal: Larry reported that the appraisal is done and a letter will be going out next Monday or Tuesday putting the property up for bid. This will include the legal notices to the newspaper. Even if a sale were to go through quickly, close of escrow must wait for April when the homeless shelter closes for the year.

Update on Clay Street property acquisition: Candace has met with the owners and made a proposal. They are expecting a counter offer by the end of January. The context of the property sale is reassembling the original Grace Hudson property.

There was discussion about how quickly we could move on starting construction once it was certain that this would become available for the skate park. Once we could put a sign up that said "Future Home of the Ukiah Skate Park" we could start fundraising in earnest and design could begin at the same time. That all needs to be done before we can start construction.

Matt brought a brochure from Wormhoudt Inc., the company contracted to build the Willits park this summer. They are way into the future for scheduling, but are willing to start on our skate park at the same time as Willits if we have some money up front. There is a bidding process required for design services, but we don't have to take the low bid. This company is well regarded and has designed some of the best parks around, and they are willing to work with local contractors and volunteer labor, and they would be willing to check in on the process from time to time to make sure it's done right. Larry will hang on to the Wormhoudt brochure. Jonathan suggests that we may want to select a designer and get on their calendar ahead of time, rather than wait to see which site we end up with. We were reminded that we have set 20,000 square feet as the minimum acceptable area for our skate park.

Update on South State Street Property: The owner is out of town until next Friday, so nothing has been discussed yet. Larry says the property is known to be contaminated and there are monitoring wells on the site. Larry is hoping for a map of the property with placement of the wells and to see how easily the wells can be capped. This is the least likely of the sites and as Mimine discussed, it very likely would not rate well on the criteria that we have used for determining the appropriateness of all the sites we've considered. We would hate to see too much effort go into this site or have it hold up the selection of one of the other sites, but barring those circumstances, we are willing to wait for Spring and consider this site with the other two in making our recommendation.

Do we want to re-address the issue of movable ramps in parks as an interim solution before we can build our permanent park? Larry reports that money would be a serious issue for this concept with the budget crunch that the city is experiencing and knowing it will get much worse. With the budget cuts there would be a very low likelihood of any money available for ramps. The ramps would cost $50,000 to $75,000. Perhaps when fundraising gets underway, if we have more money than we need for the skate park, we could buy some movable ramps as flexible elements for the skate park and for other events to be held around town. Consensus was to give up the idea of trying to purchase movable ramps now.

Low Cost Helmet Program? Larry suggested that the local chapter of the Police Officers Association may be able to help with a low cost helmet program, especially now that it is law that skaters under the age of 18 must wear them. We could possibly use this concept as part of a fundraiser or event. It was suggested that perhaps if a skater is fined for not wearing a helmet, some of the fine could go toward a helmet, as sort of a diversion program. Larry will talk to the Ukiah Police Department about jurisdiction for these citations. Jim will talk to the DA's office about the possibility of this sort of a diversion program and report back next meeting.

Website Ideas: Larry will get the City of Ukiah site to include a link to the Ukiahskatepark.com site. Justin commented that he hasn't received any queries from the site since he became the recipient for them. It was suggested that we go to the Ukiah Daily Journal and request that they mention the website when they have articles going. Justin will talk to Mark Hedges soon as there is another article coming out soon, and hopefully this can be mentioned. It was also suggested that a small little ad with the logo and website might be dropped in on a regular basis or when they need a filler here and there. No idea what cost would be associated. Matt suggested he has someone he can talk to there also about this concept. Larry showed a skateboarding magazine where we should perhaps put an ad to lead people to our website.

Marianne requests that each time there is an event, somebody send her just one or two pictures for the website, either hard photos she can scan in or digital picture files. This would serve to keep the website photo gallery up to date and refreshed.

Miscellaneous: Larry mentioned that our committee is one that will be assigned a representative from the City Council, along with many other committees, when these assignments are made soon for the new council. It is hoped that that representative will attend our meetings on a regular basis and keep us high on the list of priorities for the City.

Active Living Committee: Larry mentioned that there was a meeting on Wednesday of the Active Living By Design Committee, an effort by councilmembers to bring healthy physical acitivities into people's everyday lives. He suggested that our committee may want a representative on that committee. The Walk 'n Roll Coalition is part of it, with about 10 to 15 groups represented. No decision was reached. We decided to put it on the next agenda to see if anyone is willing to represent us there.

Another Grant Opportunity: Larry has received the application for the Tony Hawk Foundation grants of $25,000. He is willing to apply on our behalf, by the City. Enthusiasm reigned and Larry said he and Sage will make this application for us.

Ukiah Rotary Presentation: This action item from the Dec. 13 meeting was missed on the agenda for this meeting. It will remain an action item and an agenda item for Feb. 14 meeting. Ed and Candace were going to talk about the contacts they've received and which groups were represented.

Action Items:

• 501(c)(3) Subcommittee to meet Friday, Jan 17, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center, Conference Room 1 (to be the 3rd Friday of each month).
• Mimine will call and invite Michael Kisslinger to the Jan. 17 meeting.
• Larry will do an agenda and email it and a reminder to all members of the subcommittee.
• Larry will make copies of the Low Gap Park soils report and bring them to the next meeting for viewing.
• Candace and Larry will be gathering information on the three proposed sites for discussion at each subsequent meeting with the goal of a recommendation by April-June, 2003.
• Larry will talk to the Ukiah Police Department about jurisdiction for helmet citations.
• Jim will talk to the DA's office about the possibility of a diversion program for helmet citations.
• Larry will get the City of Ukiah website to include a link to the Ukiahskatepark.com site.
• Justin will talk to Mark Hedges at the UDJ about including a little blurb for our website with the article coming out soon.
• Matt will talk to a contact he has at the UDJ about the possibility of dropping in a little skatepark logo with the website, on a regular basis or when they have space.
• Larry and Sage will apply for the $25,000 Tony Hawk Foundation grant on behalf of the skate park committee.
• Candace and Ed will talk about which Rotary groups want presentations (from 12/13/02 meeting).

Next Meeting: Friday, February 14, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center Meeting Room (2nd Friday of each month)

Next Agenda:

• Report from 501(c)(3) Subcommittee
• Status Update on Low Gap Park site: Soils Report copies to be provided
• Status Update of North Fire Station Appraisal
• Status Update on Clay Street property acquisition
• Status Update on South State property
• Update from Larry and Jim about potential for a diversion program for helmet citations
• Active Living By Design Committee-appoint a representative
• Presentation needed for Rotary groups? (Ed/Candace)
• Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding the website-Check it out: ukiahskatepark.com

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The meeting was held at City Hall at 5:30. Present were Larry DeKnoblough, Jim Mulheren, Jonathan Whipple, Justin Capri, and Marianne Mulheren. Carole Aleshire was unable to attend but will attempt to record meeting notes from emails from Larry and Marianne.

On to the May 6, 5:30 meeting:

Larry reported that Marianne discussed her progress on the website. Larry will be pulling together some historical information for her and Justin will be adding some captions for the pictures. Marianne reported that she will soon have a rough draft put up for us to look at. Before that can happen, however, paperwork needs to be filled out for setting up the website with Jim Perskey at Pacific Internet. Also a name needs to be chosen along with a password. Any volunteers for working through the paperwork with Pacific Internet, and bringing the remaining questions back to the group, either through email or at the next meeting?

Marianne also reported that Jim Perskey said we could have ads on the site, and that he will link the website to Ukiah.com. The hunt for ad sponsors is on. Not sure what information is needed to offer the spots, but I imagine Marianne will know.

Larry also reported that the City Manager has agreed to go ahead and do the soils tests for the Low Gap Park site. That way we can determine if the site is even possible before we get into any further discussions with the Players and the High School.

Next Meeting:

(Unless otherwise decided) Monday, June 3, 2002, 5:30 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center Meeting Room (1st Monday of each month).

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The meeting was held at City Hall at noon. Present were Bob Beltrami, George Phelan, Jonathan Whipple, Marianne Mulheren, Jim Mulheren, Paul Andersen, Sage Sangiacomo, and Carole Aleshire (recorder). Pizza was enjoyed by all, thanks to Jim (again!)! Ed Keller joined us late, as did Larry DeKnoblough (for a short while), Rex Eiffert, Justin Capri and Bodhi Idarius.

Introductions were made.

Michael Kisslinger from NCO was invited to join us to discuss the options available to us for tax exempt fundraising—whether to form a 501(c)(3) and/or other alternatives. He brought handouts for us that he provides for his classes, one of which was held just last week. Michael runs a program for NCO called Catalyst, a non-profit community support program to provide training and technical assistance and resources of various types for community groups. They assist people interested in becoming non-profit organizations. He is not an attorney and provides no legal advice. In eight years Michael has assisted over a dozen organizations to incorporate as non profits.

Michael’s question: Are we planning to disband after the skatepark is built? Bob responded that the intention now is to continue once the park is built, to have activities to support the skater community and allow for improvements to the park over time. Michael made the distinction that if we only wanted to raise money to build the park and then disband and let someone else run the park, it doesn’t make sense to form a new non-profit organization just for that. If we plan to continue on afterwards to sponsor tournaments, events, etc., then it makes sense to discuss forming a non-profit. With Bob’s explanation, Michael suggested we may become like the Friends of the Skatepark (like the local library organization).

If we were not to be an ongoing organization, it would be much easier to find someone to act as a fiscal sponsor for the fundraising effort, whereby we would set up a donor-advised account with the Community Foundation or some such organization, of which there are several. Michael brought the book, “Fiscal Sponsorship” for us to borrow. The 1% or so we have been told is charged by the Community Foundation would be very low, according to Michael. That 1% could be money well spent when compared to the costs of starting a 501(c)(3) corporation.

The handout Michael left for us runs us through the whole process required for incorporating. There are three things needed:
1. Organize and plan, know our mission, make a business plan, strategic plan, all written down.
2. Incorporate: a simple process of filling out articles of incorporation and sending $25 to the Secretary of State.
3. Apply for tax exempt status at the federal and state levels, and for exemption from real and personal property at the local level, if that is desired.
The tendency can be to jump into incorporating and getting tax exempt status before we plan for the future, which could be a mistake.

It could be advantageous to set up a fiscal sponsorship with someone to begin with, even if we are planning to incorporate. Most grant-makers and donors are looking for someone who will be responsible with their money. Having a proven track record or being under the umbrella of a group with a proven track record who is willing to vouch for us would solve that problem. If we were a brand new organization applying for a grant from a huge endowment, we would not look as enticing as an organization that has been around for awhile. What a fiscal sponsor would do is to vouch for us and say that they will make sure we follow proper fiduciary practices.

Sage asked if there would be an advantage to going with the City or the Community Foundation as a fiscal sponsor. Michael said that what is important is the relationship between the sponsor and our organization, and the terms that are negotiated and put down in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Most grant-making organizations would give grants to local governments the same as they would to an official non-profit organization. Sage then asked, if the City is willing to be the fiscal sponsor for the Skate Park Committee, what would be the benefits of becoming a 501(c)(3)? If we were our own tax exempt organization, we would have autonomy, with no oversight by a government entity. Sage asked about the issue of donors being able to deduct their donations on their taxes. For private donations to be tax-deductible for the donor, they would have to go to an organization that is a 501(c)(3). That would be the main benefit of incorporating as a tax-exempt.

If we choose not to incorporate, it could be advantageous to set up two relationships: 1) Have the Community Foundation set up a donor-advised fund, whereby people donate money to the Community Foundation with the funds going to the Skate Park. Donations are tax-deductible and they come to us. 2) Set up a fiscal sponsorship with the City for everything else. This would necessitate dealing with the board of directors of the foundation and with the City Council. Other groups in the community may also be willing to be our sponsor.

The main problem we have encountered in approaching this type of group is their fear of liability. Insurance would be the answer, and it should be negotiated with the fiscal sponsor in an MOU. Questions about insurance would be whose name is it in and who will be paying the premiums.

The question of insurance coverage for skateboarding classified as a hazardous recreational activity came up, but it appears that there will still be a need to carry insurance, as there could still be an instance where someone gets hurt at the skate park while not skateboarding. Liability insurance is available in California at below-market rates through a couple of organizations. One is the California Association of Non Profits, and another is the Non Profit Insurance Alliance of California. They have coverage for non profit organizations utilizing group rates. Another possibility could be that the City gets insurance for us and we pay the premiums.

Michael is loaning us a book called “Fiscal Sponsorship” by Gregory Colvin, for three or four weeks, to be returned to him at the NCO office. Also he left for us the handouts from his workshops, and some other materials. Bob took possession of this material. If we decide to form a 501(c)(3), Michael’s best advice is that we buy the book from Nolo Press, “How to Form a Non-profit Corporation in California.” Cost is $35 and it includes a disk with all the forms required.

If we do incorporate, we would be legally controlled by the California Corporations Code (CCC), the non-profit section, and our by-laws, which will set a higher standard than the CCC. If we do not incorporate, we would be legally controlled by the MOU with our fiscal sponsor, and by our fiscal sponsor.

Bodhi brought up a special insurance available to hockey teams, motocross groups, for only $40 a year. He has the specifics on it at home. Perhaps skaters would pay $25 a year toward this insurance.

This brought Michael to the suggestion that we need to get the details of how the park will be operated, whether there will be a fee to skate, questions about insurance, etc. in a “Case for Support,” an internal document used in the fundraising world. We have a lot of these decisions made already in the form of Frequently Asked Questions used for our community presentations.

Michael can be reached at NCO at 462-2596, ext 111. Best time to reach him is in the morning. We are welcome to call him with any question. We expressed our appreciation for his sharing this information with us, and he left the meeting.

Report from 501(c)(3) Subcommittee: The subcommittee has met several times but decided they needed to wait for any further meetings until they heard what Michael had to say, because they had so many questions to ask of this expert. They have been gathering completed applications for 501(c)(3) and articles of incorporation from other organizations. They have material from the Willits Skate Park Committee, from Joy for the Main Street Program and from S.P.A.C.E. The next meeting of this subcommittee is scheduled for next Friday, Feb. 21 at noon.

Dave Madrigal from the Willits group would like to start a dialog between our two groups to share what we have learned, brainstorm, maybe increase our ability to work through problems by putting our heads together. He is willing to come here or we could go there. Sage will talk with Dave to set up how we will proceed, and he’ll report back to this group. Dave is on our Resource List and receives the minutes and agenda.

Another topic the subcommittee has been working on is the difference between a trust and a corporation. Now a large question is whether to incorporate or to use a fiscal sponsor as suggested by Michael. The subcommittee will address this issue as its primary decision. George pointed out that there is a lot of work involved in keeping up the non-profit status, including audits, which could be forgotten about with a group like ours that could have a changing membership. It could be the costs involved with fiscal sponsorship could be money well spent.

Low Gap Park Site Soils Report: Sage passed out copies of the soils report as requested.

Status Update of North Fire Station Appraisal: Sage believes the City has received the appraisal and the property is or will soon be going through the sale process. It hasn’t hit the City Council yet.

Update on Clay Street property acquisition: The City is still actively working with the property owner on negotiations. The deadline has not passed without conversation. Sage has no guess on a timeline at this point.

Update on South State Street Property: This is probably number three on the City’s short list. Nothing to report on this property. Sage doesn’t know if Larry got the site map he was requesting of the owner. Staff investigation continues on this site.

We are still looking at the April-June timeline for making a decision between the three sites.

Potential for a Diversion Program for Helmet Citations? (Larry & Jim): Larry had to leave earlier, so was not here to report. Jim talked to District Attorney Norm Vroman, who said he wasn’t aware of anyone being prosecuted for not wearing a helmet. Jim understood the request as the money that would go toward court costs being diverted to purchase helmets. Others see it as a fine diversion program, whereby rather than a fine, a set number of hours of community service would be performed, at the end of which a helmet would be provided to the offender. Another side of this would be developing a low-cost helmet program. Sage talked about this with a member of the UPD, and they are looking into the possibility of asset forfeiture fees to get the helmet program going. The Recreation Dept. has offered, if funds are found for purchasing helmets, to do the research and manage an RFP to purchase helmets. George mentioned that the Sheriff’s Office has held bicycle rodeos where they would offer helmets for participants. Perhaps they would be willing to do something for us this way. Sage also mentioned that they have started to look at grant opportunities that might exist for providing helmets, including educational outreach type grants. Sage clarified that the Ukiah Police Dept would have jurisdiction in issuing citations for not wearing helmets, but there is nothing to prevent a CHP officer or Sheriff’s Deputy from issuing a citation.

Active Living By Design Committee--Appoint a representative: There was no motion to send appoint a representative to this committee. Sage will ask his coworker who is on the committee to keep us posted on this committee’s activities.

Presentation for Rotary Groups?: George, from one of the Rotary clubs, suggested that we develop a presentation for any organizations, based on Michael’s suggestion of a “Case for Support” as a Power Point presentation with handouts, which could be run by anybody. This would make sure that we have consistent responses to frequent questions. This should include a vision statement (what we have now is on our website). This could become a roadshow. Perhaps we should establish a subcommittee to come up with this presentation. Would this be the same as a fundraising committee? This will need further discussion.

Miscellaneous:
Bodhi wanted to re-raise the issue of purchasing ramps for existing parks. He wants to make sure that issue doesn’t get lost, as we are still quite a ways off from having a park, and the ramps we have are deteriorating. Is there still a possibility of having a ramp set up at one of the existing parks? There could still be a problem with insurance and non-professional ramps. Sage will put this issue on the next agenda of the Parks and Recreation Commission, and report back.

Action Items:

• 501(c)(3) Subcommittee to meet Friday, Feb. 21, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center, Conference Room 1 (to be the 3rd Friday of each month).


• Candace and Larry will be gathering information on the three proposed sites for discussion at each subsequent meeting with the goal of a recommendation by April-June, 2003.


• Larry will get the City of Ukiah website to include a link to the Ukiahskatepark.com site. (from Jan. 10 meeting)


• Sage will put on the Parks
• Rec Commission agenda discussion of putting a ramp in an existing park

Next Meeting: Friday, March14, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center Meeting Room (2nd Friday of each month)

Next Agenda:

• Report from 501(c)(3) Subcommittee


• Status Update on Low Gap Park Site


• Status Update of North Fire Station Appraisal


• Status Update on Clay Street property Acquisition


• Status Update on South State Property


• Update from Sage about potential for a diversion program for helmet citations


• Should we form a subcommittee for fundraising and/or developing a road show presentation?


• Update on Larry's effort to get the City of Ukiah website to include a link to the Ukiahskatepark.com site


• Update on Parks and Rec Commission discussion about putting a ramp in an existing park (Sage)


• Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding the website. Check it out: www.ukiahskatepark.com

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The meeting was held at City Hall at noon. Present were Bob Beltrami, vice-chair and representing the City Parks & Rec Commission, Paul Anderson representing the City Council, Matt Wilson, Jonathan Whipple, Randall Feare, Rex Eiffert, Marianne Mulheren, Mimine Ambrois, Dina Polkinghorne, Justin Capri, Sage Sangiacomo, Ed Keller, Joy Beeler, George Phelan, and Carole Aleshire (recorder).

Introductions were made.

Report from 501(c)(3) Subcommittee: The subcommittee met on Feb. 21-Larry and just 2 members of the subcommittee. They discussed creating a retreat to come up with a mission statement and a timetable and to come out of a day of working together with an understanding of where we want to go. Suggested dates were March 29 and April 5. Next meeting of this subcommittee is next Friday, March 21, noon at the Ukiah Civic Center, Conference Room 1 (3rd Friday each month).

Jonathan asked if it had been decided to do a 501(c)(3) and Bob said that decision would be one reason for the retreat. Jonathan was willing to follow through with the Mendocino Community Foundation to nail down what the cost would be to us to use them as a Fiscal Sponsor, getting the information in writing and perhaps an application to do so. Jonathan says they have expressed interest in acting as sponsor for our group. Suzanne Norgaard is his contact there. He will plan to bring this information to the retreat.

Low Gap Park Site Update: No status update, now that the soils report has been made available. Matt went to a board meeting of the Ukiah Players and came away thinking that we would not be building the skatepark there because of the clear opposition in terms of noise and parking. It was expressed that they are not unwilling to keep discussions going on help with soundproofing and the parking problem. It was said in today's meeting that they are free to express their objections and we can continue to discuss help in mitigation efforts, but the Playhouse doesn't have veto power over this decision. From the city's perspective this site is still on the table, and as any site, would require mitigation measures. There was some discussion of noise mitigation ideas.

Status Update of North Fire Station Appraisal: The appraisal is complete and the property is on the market. The first bid could come in as early as next week. $677,000 is the appraised value. There will be City Council discussion before any bid is accepted. Update on Clay Street property acquisition: Discussions have been held between the City and the property owner. There is a slight delay for tax discussions but they will put a proposal out to the City, hopefully by the end of March. It has been heard that there could be a 1-2 year delay for the owners to vacate the property but it could be that holding out a portion of the property to move ahead with the skatepark could be an option.

Update on South State Street Property: Larry was not here to report so there was no update. This is a low priority site with hazardous fuels known to have been stored there. There was mention of Berkeley's skatepark being built over fuel storage, with the assumption that the cement bowl would seal out the toxins. Six months or so after opening, that park has been closed due to the toxins leaching through the cement. We are still looking at the April-June timeline for making a decision between the three sites.

Potential for a Diversion Program for Helmet Citations? (Larry & Jim): No progress to report. The program that would be responsible, the Community Response Team (CRT) arm of the UPD, is on hold, with staff filling in on other programs. There won't be progress on this front for some time, with budget cuts looming as they are. Bob will check with the Public Health Department's Health Education Program for the possibility of a program like the low-cost/free bike helmet program.

Subcommittee for Fundraising and Presentations? This idea is receiving positive energy in this group. In the past we have said we can't start fundraising until we have a site, but it is thought now that we have enough momentum going that fundraising could well progress. We should be looking not only for money but also for contractors and materials. We could be dealing with corporate headquarters for some of the organizations now doing business in town, which is more reason for preparation of a good presentation, or "road show." A subcommittee was formed with Joy, Dina, George, Justin and Paul. The main focus will be to come up with a good mobile presentation, rather than starting in on fundraising. This will be the first step in preparing for pulling in the commitments! No date was set yet for the first subcommittee meeting. Everyone has the resource list so they can contact each other. It could wait until after the retreat, as that could be a point of gathering all materials developed to date.

Committee Retreat: We discussed the concept of having a weekend day for a retreat to make a decision on whether to proceed on a 501(c)(3) corporation or use fiscal sponsors; to come up with a mission statement (could be influenced by the 501 decision and the proposed life of this committee); and to come up with a timeline with the end goal the date we will have a park, then working backwards to create realistic progress points to fill out the timeline. Joy has a short written explanation of the whats and whys of mission statements that she will share with us. Bob will set us up in a nice airy room at the Public Health Department. With 15 of us present, many not having their calendars with them, the best date we could come up with is Sunday, April 13. Carole will send out a separate email on this topic to see how many can make it that day. We can email back and forth to nail it down.

There was frustration expressed and patience urged, about how long all this is taking. It was acknowledged that we need to continue to support each other and not get into personalities, realizing that this kind of thing generally does take time, and we are gathering good momentum and need to keep the positive motion going.

Appreciation was also expressed for this group keeping after our goal. We need to rely on City staff to continue their research on the sites and plan to make our decision in the April-May time frame. We need to hear from Larry on a regular basis to see the progress that is being made by City staff. It was suggested that we should perhaps put the item on the City Council meeting agenda for that timeframe, rather than wait until we know we have all the information. We urge ourselves to calm down and stay with it.

City of Ukiah Website Link to ukiahskatepark.com: Larry has accomplished getting this link in place.

Status of Parks & Rec Commission discussion about putting a ramp in an existing park: Sage says it has been on the agenda for some time, waiting for committee input. Matt and Justin will go to the next meeting, on March 18 at 5:30 in Conference Room 4, to share their ideas.

S.P.A.C.E.'s 6th Annual Cultural Project: This is to be held on April 5 at 7:00 at the High School Cafetorium. We are offered a booth if we would like. Ideas shared were to post the website banner, have a donation jar and sign-up sheets and pledge forms, as well as the displays from First Night, with space for kids to color and express their support for a skatepark. Randall volunteered to run the booth, with Justin right in there with him.

Action Items:

• § 501(c)(3) Subcommittee to meet Friday, March 21, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center, Conference Room 1 (3rd Friday of each month).
• Candace and Larry will be gathering information on the three proposed sites for discussion at each subsequent meeting with the goal of a recommendation by April-June, 2003.
Bob will
• check with the Public Health Department's Health Education Program for the possibility of a program like the low-cost/free bike helmets program.
• Joy has a short written explanation of the whats and whys of mission statements that she will share with us. Next Meeting: Friday, April 11, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center Meeting Room (2nd Friday of each month)

Next Agenda:

• Report from 501(c)(3) Subcommittee
• Retreat Planning
• Status Update on Low Gap Park Site
• Status Update on sale of North Fire Station property
• Status Update on Clay Street property Acquisition
• Status Update on South State Property
• Update on Parks & Rec Commission discussion about putting a ramp in an existing park (Sage)
• Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding the website-Check it out: www.ukiahskatepark.com

Return to Index

The meeting was held at City Hall at noon. Present were Bob Beltrami, vice-chair and representing the City Parks & Rec Commission (facilitating), Jim Mulheren (thanks for the pizza, again!), Jonathan Whipple, Randall Feare, Marianne Mulheren, Mimine Ambrois, Justin Capri, Bodhi Idarius, Larry Deknoblough, Kathleen Stone and Carole Aleshire (recorder).
Introductions were made.

Report from 501(c)(3) Subcommittee: The committee met last week with Suzanne Norgaard from the Mendocino Community Foundation. It sounds like a match between what we need and what they provide, in order to offer tax exempt status for those who would like to contribute to our cause. The foundation will take in the money, give the tax write-off to the donor, and pass the money on to the City who will disperse funds. Details including how the percentage we pay them is computed and how often remain to be nailed down. All we have to do is provide a plan for spending the money and an alternative plan should we fall short of our goal, to protect the donations that come in. They will want up to three representatives from the committee to deal with, possibly one from the City. There is an application we must complete, and we’ll need to submit our mission statement, but it sounds fairly simple. The subcommittee’s recommendation to the committee is that we abandon the goal of filing for tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3) non profit corporation and instead pursue the Mendocino Community Foundation to act as our agent for funds.
A motion was made and seconded to utilize Mendocino Community Foundation as our non-profit agent for fundraising proceeds. The motion passed with no opposition.
The subcommittee will meet at least one more time, to follow through on the application and other details for the Mendocino Community Foundation.

Candace arrived at this point to give a status update on properties and potential sites.

Update on South State Street Property: It has been decided that the chemical contamination at this property is too extensive to be feasible for a skatepark. It will be dropped from our list of potential sites.
Update on Clay Street property acquisition: The owner of this property has talked with attorneys and tax people, as well as his family. There is a meeting set for next week with him. Apparently he wants to up his asking price based on the high appraisal on the North Ukiah Fire Station, knowing that funds for purchase of his property would come from the sale of that property. Candace has responded that if there is solid data offered to indicate a price higher than his appraisal, it would be entertained. It is hoped that by next week negotiations will be complete on this property.

Low Gap Park Site Update: The City is working on figuring additional costs to build on this site caused by the soil structure that became evident in the results of the soils test. They will be talking with an engineer and perhaps getting some sample plans from the Justin and the other skaters.
Jonathan had a question about how parking would be addressed if the Low Gap site were chosen. Larry talked about the planning being done between the county and the City to address the problem of parking there, perhaps going into the park more to achieve more parking area.

Status Update of North Fire Station Appraisal: Final bids are in, and the City is ready to move forward with the sale.

Candace is hoping that the City will have all the information together to give to our committee by the first part of May, and we should be able to go before the City Council before the end of May.

Status of Parks & Rec Commission discussion about putting a ramp in an existing park:
Justin and Matt went to a meeting of the Parks and Recreation and Golf Commission to talk about utilizing the half-pipe that was constructed using for use at a PAL facility on Clay Street some time back. When PAL moved out, the half-pipe had to go, and has been in storage. The concept was to put it in one of the parks in town as a place for skaters to go until the skate park gets built and to show the community a positive image of skaters in our town. Larry shared something someone said at that meeting, “if your town doesn’t have a skate park, your town IS a skate park.”
Locations discussed for putting the half-pipe were the Vinewood Park basketball court, the Sun House park, the Plaza parking lot (but discarded because the ramp is not portable) and next to South Valley (the old Armory building) on Dora. The Dora spot is considered good for visibility and proximity to law enforcement, but could be a problem if access to and from City Hall by emergency vehicles were hampered by people in the driveway. Would need to be solidly fenced. It was also suggested if there is enough room wherever is chosen, perhaps a couple of rails could be included to add interest. The commission was very supportive, and no opposition was voiced.
Larry and Sage have already found some other options to the pre-built half-pipe, as it was not built by a licensed contractor which would be necessary for putting it in a City park. Larry did say that if a licensed contractor were to sign off on the existing ramp, perhaps it could be used. Larry says he thinks $20,000 would buy a new, professionally manufactured ramp with all the amenities, and he said he would be willing to go for some park funds for this cause, if we could raise the rest. This sort of ramp could be moved to another location if needed, or to the final park when it gets built. Larry likes Vinewood Park for this purpose, and would like for the community to see just how good it can be, and it could be good for fundraising too. The commission will discuss this topic again at their next meeting. Both Larry and Bob attend those meetings.

Committee Retreat: A working retreat will be held from 9 to3 on Sunday, April 13, at the Public Health Department’s front conference room at Dora and Observatory, on the northeast side of the building. There will be a sign directing us to the conference room door. Sweet rolls and juice are arranged for the morning and we’ll have to figure out what we’ll do for lunch. 12 or 13 people are anticipated. Bob is willing to facilitate and scribe. The purpose is to develop a unified direction for our committee, address many issues such as fundraising, public relations and how we will work with our new funding agent, develop goals, plans and a timeline, develop action items and perhaps form more subcommittees or increase our meeting schedule. The committee members were asked if they felt okay about accepting decisions made at the retreat, and there was no opposition, but it was also suggested that the work product could come back as firm recommendations to be made at the next regular meeting.

S.P.A.C.E.’s 6th Annual Cultural Project: Held on April 5 at 7:00 at the High School Cafetorium, we had a booth there covered by Randall and Justin. This item didn’t make it to the agenda, but there was unofficial discussion about it. Sounds like a good turnout and a fun time. A couple of names were added to our resource list.

Action Items:

• § 501(c)(3) Subcommittee to meet Friday, April 18, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center, Conference Room 1 to finalize details for our funding agent.
• Candace and Larry will be gathering information on the three (now only two) proposed sites for discussion at each subsequent meeting with the goal of a recommendation by April-June, 2003.

Left from prior meetings:

• Bob will check with the Public Health Department’s Health Education Program for the possibility of a program like the low-cost/free bike helmets program.
• Joy has a short written explanation of the whats and whys of mission statements that she will share with us.

Next Meeting:
Friday, May 9, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center Meeting Room
(2nd Friday of each month)

Next Agenda:

• Report from Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee (renamed by Carole to avoid all those ()‘s)
• Reporting of Results of Retreat Work
• Status Update on Low Gap Park Site
• Status Update on Sale of North Fire Station Property
• Status Update on Clay Street Property Acquisition
• Update on Parks & Rec Commission discussion about putting a ramp in an existing park
• Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding the website—Check it out: ukiahskatepark.com

Return to Index

Working Retreat Meeting Sunday, April 13, 2003

Present: Bob Beltrami, Mimine Ambrois, Jonathan Whipple, Joy Beeler, George, Randall, Sage Sangiacomo, Justin Capri, Matt Wilson, Dina Polkinghorne, Larry DeKnoblough and Carole Aleshire (recorder)

(Before we got going)…
City Fiscal agent with trust fund.

We could continue with the small account for contributions not needing tax exempt stauts. Maybe use this account for event costs and small deposits.

Welcome
Housekeeping
Ground Rules
Set Goals for the Day:

• Review Mission Statement
• Complete Vision Statement
• Define Role of Skatepark Committee
• Timeline
• Specific Goals
• Meeting Schedules: Central & Subcommittees
• Develop Subcommittees
• Discuss Sites, Compare Timelines; Straw Poll of preferences
• Complete Foundation Application
• Strategize Direction & Action Items
• Fundraising / Define Levels of Sponsorship?
• Include Key People In Committee Membership – newspaper
• Elect Officers

Knowing we wouldn’t be able to finish everything on this list, we started with the items that would accomplish completion of the Foundation application, in that proposed dates are needed, and contact people need to be designated, 2 from the committee and 1 from the City.

ELECT OFFICERS:
The need for officers was recognized for the purposes of interfacing with the Foundation, as well as making our committee more accountable for grant and other purposes.
Roles of officers were defined:
President: chair meetings of the main committee; work with subcommittees or their chairs to keep developments coming and ensure we’re moving forward as planned; interface with the City and the Foundation on non-fiscal matters; represent the committee before the City Council
Vice President: help with tasks listed for the President; fill in as needed when President is unable;
Treasurer: liaison to the Foundation and City as fiscal agent
Secretary: record minutes; handle correspondence as needed
The Executive Subcommittee would include all of these officers and an ex-officio from the City (Larry or Sage) and be responsible for keeping an eye on the “big picture”, making decisions as issues arise; interfacing with the community and service clubs as necessary.

The following volunteered for offices with no objections:

• President: Bob Beltrami
• Co-Vice Presidents: Justin Capri, Matt Wilson (with our discussion about the importance of having skaters on our board)
• Treasurer: Joy Beeler
• Secretary Carole Aleshire

The contacts required for the Foundation would be Treasurer, Secretary and Sage for the City.

MISSION STATEMENT:

PROVIDING A WELL DESIGNED SKATE PARK THAT PROMOTES HEALTHY RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR OUR CHILDREN

VISION STATEMENT:

• Provide an appropriate and safe place for youth to practice skills and in so doing, legitimize their sport.
• Encourage our children’s endeavors to build self-esteem that will reinforce community values.
• Provide an environment for our youth to engage in healthy independent recreation with their peers where goals are set and achieved.
• Create a site in Ukiah with easy access to all.
• Create an opportunity for the community to come together for a common goal.

GOALS:

• Secure an appropriate site
• Secure funds and materials to build a skatepark
• Promote skater participation in all phases of the park development
• Develop a “Friends of the Skatepark” committee to continue activities after the park is completed.
• Promote a multi-generational plan for the grounds surrounding the skatepark, whatever the location.
• Select a contractor to build the park.
• Build the skate park with as much support, donations and volunteer labor as is feasible
• Hold a kickoff celebration to thank all our contributors

Discussion about the two sites, pros & cons and timeline limitations:

Thoughts that came up in this discussion:

If the committee hires a design company, there is no need to go out for bid, it would require a request for proposals, for professional services.

Low Gap design could take longer because of concerns to mitigate for the Playhouse. Soils are also a problem. Idea—Send a copy of the soils report to Wormhoudt to see if their soils engineers can say if the site could support a skatepark.

Clay Street property—soil structure unknown, but structures have been standing there and no toxic history is known.

City Council could give direction to city staff to pursue one site or the other before knowing if ownership is an issue.

Main Street Program could help with event promotions if on Clay Street but not on Low Gap, as not in the downtown area.

Clay Street site visibility—railroad being invigorated, proposals for enhancing the RR property, there has been verbal okay to extend Clay Street to cross the RR tracks to join Leslie. Ukiah Police can easily patrol this site, though Low Gap is outside of their jurisdiction.

Clay Street multigenerational aspects—Cleveland Lane people willing to work with City on a playground/park, near the community garden.—maybe a tot lot in addition to the museum and garden. This would be in the vicinity of the proposed skatepark. No plans to add playground elements to Sun House Park.

Staw poll of the 12 present between Clay & Low Gap: Low Gap 3 votes, Clay 9 votes. Everyone appeared to agree that if their site ends up eliminated, they will support the other site.

The main objections to Clay were about safety, with the railroad and the unsavory element present. North Coast Railroad Association and the Main Street Program are very much in favor of the Clay Street site, so could very well be willing to help with providing positive elements (as the skatepark will do) to help make it more secure. Some of the pluses are that the neighbors actually want the skatepark there, police can patrol, centrally located for skater access and in the area of the downtown businesses that are getting trashed so they may be willing to donate to see a park contain the skaters’ interest.

The main objections to Low Gap were the impact on the neighbors, Ukiah Players and the High School, the parking that would need to be worked out, the potential problems with soil stability, the remote location being less accessible to kids all over town, and the lack of regular police patrol. The biggest pluses here are the fact that the city already owns the property and the variety of activities available in the immediate area providing the multigenerational environment we have long wanted.

SUBCOMMITTEES Suggested (at least 3 people on each):

EXECUTIVE
¨ Finance
¨ Recruitment

PUBLIC RELATIONS
¨ Needs Assessment (survey): Survey to determine how many users the skatepark can anticipate. Good for fundraising, grants. Willits did it through the schools.
¨ Brochures, press releases, skatejams

FUNDRAISING / GRANTS
¨ Plan events, skatejams
¨ Apply for grants (recruit Jill Forshee to help with writing grants?)

DESIGN
¨ Park design, meet with consultant selected by executive subcommittee

TEMPORARY HISTORY / Summary committee:
¨ Compile all historical information into a board packet, with mission statement, vision statement, goals, site selection process from long ago, past missions statements, etc.

Larry & Sage will outline responsibilities of the subcommittees & present at the next general meeting. Members will be recruited for subcommittees at that meeting. Members not present may well be assigned to subcommittees.

Not completed: timeline, strategize direction (subcommittees may cover)

Mimine will complete the application for the foundation using June 30, 2006 as the 3-year timeframe for money to be expended.

Next meeting: May 9, noon at Ukiah City Council—STRESS NEED FOR ATTENDANCE!! Will prep for City Council meeting. May 21 agenda for City Council Meeting—tentative.

Friday, May 9, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Bob Beltrami, Justin Capri, Jim Mulheren (with pizza for all), Marianne Mulheren, Kathleen Stone, Mimine Ambrois, Matt Wilson, Jonathan Whipple, Laurel Near, Sage Sangiacomo, Joy Beeler, Paul Anderson and Lisa Mammina.

Introductions were made.

Additions to Agenda:

• Approval of April 11 meeting minutes—make it regular agenda item (Bob)
• Fundraising Subcommittee report (Joy)

Report and Recommendations from Retreat Work Group:
We were seeking comments, questions, discussion and approval of suggestions made at the April 13 work group meeting.

• Officers: There was a motion to approve the officers as listed and assigned in the minutes of the April 13 meeting, which are:
  • President (Duties to chair meetings of the main committee, work with subcommittees or their chairs to keep developments coming and ensure we’re moving forward as planned, interface with the City and the Foundation on non-fiscal matters and represent the committee before the City Council): Bob Beltrami
  • Vice President (Duties to help with tasks listed for the President and fill in as needed when President is unable): Justin Capri and Matt Wilson sharing the tasks
  • Treasurer (Duties to act as liaison to the Foundation and City as fiscal agent): Joy Beeler
  • Secretary (Duties to record minutes and handle correspondence as needed): Carole Aleshire

• Subcommittees:
The following subcommittees are needed to cover the major responsibilities to make the skatepark a reality:
• The Executive Subcommittee is to be made up of the five officers named above and an ex-officio from the City (Larry or Sage) and be responsible for keeping an eye on the “big picture”, making decisions as issues arise, interfacing with the community and service clubs as necessary.

  Discussion included the question as to whether the Executive Subcommittee would review newspaper articles before they are published, and the conclusion reached was that such articles should be run by the Public Relations Subcommittee. The brochure to be developed will say a lot of what we need to say once it’s prepared. Justin is doing an article for the Bullhorn—a new entertainment paper, and wants to be sure he has the proper review or is clear that he is stating only his opinion and not that of the full committee.

  Subcommittee signup sheets were passed around the table with the purpose listed on each, as put together by Larry and Sage:

• The Fundraising Subcommittee has already been meeting, with the stated purpose to be responsible for developing a fundraising plan and identifying and pursuing potential funders and funding sources such as grants and foundations. It will also take the lead in envisioning, creating and coordinating all fundraising events and activities. Fundraising promotions shall be coordinated with the Public Relations subcommittee. Previously joining this subcommittee (at the March 14 meeting) were Joy Beeler, Dina Polkinghorne, George Phelan, Justin Capri and Paul Anderson. In addition, Members signed up today are Ed Keller, Sage Sangiacomo, and Jonathan Whipple. Next meeting of this subcommittee is June 13, 10:00 at Joy’s office at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center.
• The Public Relations Subcommittee has the stated purpose to be responsible for all public outreach such as press releases, surveys and other informational gathering tools and marketing and promotions. The subcommittee shall coordinate with other subcommittees to develop a promotional brochure/portfolio to inform the public and assist in fundraising. Members signed up today are Laurel Near, Matt Wilson, Mimine Ambrois, Kathleen Stone, Marianne Mulheren (proofing copy & press releases), Jim Mulheren and Justin Capri. No first meeting has been set yet for this subcommittee.
• The Design Subcommittee has the stated purpose to be responsible for the creation of the park design including the skate area, surrounding park landscape and all other park amenities within the site area. This process may include consulting with surrounding property owners or tenants and seeking community input. The subcommittee shall be the lead in seeking and recommending a design team of certified skatepark designers. Members signed up today are Paul Anderson, Ed Keller, Sage Sangiacomo, Matt Wilson and Justin Capri. No first meeting has been set yet for this subcommittee.
• The Documentation Subcommittee has the stated purpose to be responsible for creating a complete history of the project to date and compile a Board packet. They shall also compile and maintain the documentation of meeting minutes of all subcommittees, the Steering Committee and any public meetings and periodically update the Board packet. Members signed up today are Matt Wilson and Marianne Mulheren (proofing and editing). More members are needed for this subcommittee!

MISSION STATEMENT: Presented as developed at the retreat and revised to the following:
The mission of the Ukiah Skate Park Committee is to provide a well designed skate park that promotes healthy recreational activities for our children and our community.

VISION STATEMENT: Presented as developed at the retreat and revised to the following:

• Provide an appropriate and safe place for youth to practice skills and in so doing, legitimize their sport
• Encourage our children’s endeavors to build self-esteem and reinforce community values
• Provide a multigenerational environment for our youth to engage in healthy independent recreation with their peers where goals are set and achieved
• Create a site in Ukiah with easy access to all
• Create an opportunity for the community to come together for a common goal

GOALS: Presented as developed at the retreat with no revisions:

• Secure an appropriate site
• Secure funds and materials to build a skatepark
• Promote skater participation in all phases of the park development
• Select a contractor to build the park
• Promote a multigenerational plan for the grounds surrounding the skatepark, whatever the location
• Build the skate park with as much support, donations and volunteer labor as is feasible
• Develop a “Friends of the Skatepark” committee to continue activities after the park is completed
• Hold a kickoff celebration to thank all our contributors

A motion to adopt the Mission, Vision & Goals as modified, carried with no opposition.

Report from Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee: Mimine reported that she has turned in our application to the Mendocino Community Foundation to act as our agent for accepting tax-exempt donations, but that Suzanne is working on another project so has not been able to deal with the application submitted to her for review. She will take it to her board to approve and should be able to deal with it within the next week.

Status Update on Sale of North Fire Station: Bids are closed for purchase of the North Fire Station and the discussion by the City Council will take place on May 21 in closed session. Any action taken would be recorded, but not the deliberations. There is no need for our presence at this City Council meeting.

Status update on Clay Street property acquisition: The City is in active negotiations with the Clay Street property owners. The owners have indicated that they would like to sell only to the City, and are not putting the property on the market for others. Now they just need to come to terms. The May 21 City Council meeting will be premature for us to make any presentation. Action could come at the 1st or 2nd City Council meeting in June for a specific amount of money to be set aside for the Clay Street property, which is when our presence would be beneficial.

Low Gap Park Site Update: Zachary Wormhoudt will meet early tomorrow with Sage and Justin and look at both sites we’re considering to get his take on what additional costs could be anticipated. Matt & Paul are interested in being present for this survey. Wormhoudt will receive the soils report on Low Gap to consider with his recommendations. There is no cost involved other than that the City is putting him up overnight.

The question was asked, can we go to a City Council meeting to let them know where we are in our process? How about a letter to the Council? We could conceivably go forward to the City Council with our recommendation for a site before everything has been decided, but it was thought that it would be good to get our Board packet together first. We also don’t have all the facts yet, including recommendations from Wormhoudt, and we can’t have the soil tested on the Clay Street site until we have some claim to the property. Drainage on Clay Street should be no problem, storm drains are nearby, and Low Gap has the creek for drainage. Is this the time to bring up the soils issue with Clay Street? Sage will ask Larry.

Another question raised is whether the skate park could be affected by the dire state budget situation. Bob feels the Council has specifically said money from the fire station would be set aside for Clay Street property for the skate park, and nothing should affect that. Paul says that the costs of maintenance and police patrol won’t be starting within the next fiscal year (before July, 2004) anyway and the picture could look very different by then and we shouldn’t worry about that now. Paul reports that applications for park bond moneys will start in June and are now open for public comment. Over $220,000 potentially available for City projects, so this is a good time to commit to a site and start to apply for the funds. $1.2 million should also be available for grants at the County level so since we see the skate park as a facility serving the county, we will want to tap into those funds too. Bob remembers a potential topic of banding together with Calpella for a parks district to draw additional funds.

Status of Parks & Rec Commission discussion about putting a ramp in an existing park:
Bob was not at the last Parks & Rec Commission meeting to report back. Sage said that two months ago this discussion was tabled. Justin doesn’t want to see it tabled. Dedicating certain weekends for skate events is still an available option, as special event fundraising activities have access to insurance coverage without a problem. The requirement of these events for kids to have to sign up keeps some kids away, so a permanent setup of ramps somewhere could be very beneficial. Buying some prefab ramps and setting them up every weekend in the parking lot on West Clay Street would be a possibility. Larry had talked about setting ramps up in separate parks, but we’re losing continuity of these conversations with Larry not here every time. If the Main Street Program were to sponsor it once a month, it would be the same insurance deal. One box could be set up immediately on weekends and be fun for all. How could we move ahead to have it happen in the next month? Put it on the agenda for the next fundraising committee.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Joy): The Fundraising Subcommittee has met a couple of times, some ideas they have were included on a handout, a “General Fundraising Plan.” This plan includes two parts: a city-wide, multi-collection campaign and a sponsorship program to allow for larger donations. Also included in their work will be planning events and applying for grants. Local businesses will be solicited to place 50 plexiglas, secure donation boxes inside their stores and sponsorship will be sought to cover the cost of purchasing the boxes. This campaign will include appropriate publicity to get the word out to the general public about the details, and to generate excitement for the skate park in general. The Main Street newsletter came out already, with an article to ask businesses to place the containers in their stores. The cost is $7 each for the boxes.

There is also a sponsorship campaign planned for $250 - $5000 + donations. It will include a five-tier opportunity for higher giving: Friend: $250; Sustainer: $500; Benefactor: $1000; Underwriter: $2000 and Founder: $5000 or more. George Phelan brought in the first donation, from Dunnewood Vineyards, now a Sustainer Sponsor, for $500 to purchase the donation boxes.

Hoyman-Browe has pledged to provide at least a 30% discount on tiles for sponsors to be displayed. A wall for these tiles should be designed into the skatepark with no skating allowed. The subcommittee touched on grants, but no grantwriters were in attendance. They are looking for a composite drawing of a skate park to get the idea across. Justin will bring something from Wormhoudt or other sources. Next subcommittee meeting will be June 13, 10:00 at Joy’s office at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center.

Public Health Dept’s Health Education Program a Potential Sponsor of a Bike Helmet Program? Bob checked on this and learned that previous bike helmet programs have been grant funded through the Health Department but are not available at this time.

Meeting Frequency: Do we want the full committee to meet every 2 weeks? Yes! 2nd & 4th Fridays, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center in one room or another. Sage will be making the arrangements for rooms.

More on Ramps in Parks: As the meeting was breaking up, there was a flurry of discussion when Lisa asked what we could do to fast-track the concept of putting ramps in the parks. Bob replied that we don’t want to sidetrack the main committee onto this topic, but perhaps a subcommittee—Lisa & Kathleen for starters—could pursue this topic? Why can’t we put a box in the parking lot at the city hall? Bob, as head of Parks & Rec, says they’ve been looking at various parking lots where they can put one. The parking lot on West Clay is a better surface for skating and an established site for events.

Action Items:

• Next Fundraising Subcommittee meeting June 13, 10:00 at Joy’s office at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center
• Topic for Fundraising Subcommittee meeting: How can we move ahead to get a fun box set up on weekends at the West Clay Street parking lot within the next month?
• Mimine will be following up on our application with the Mendocino Community Foundation.
• Sage will ask Larry if this is the time to bring up the soils issue on the Clay Street property.
• Justin will supply some kind of a composite drawing of a skate park to the Fundraising Subcommittee.
• Candace and Larry will continue to gather information on the two proposed sites for discussion at each subsequent meeting with the goal of a recommendation by April-June, 2003.

Next Meeting:
Friday, May 23, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

• Approval of minutes from May 9 meeting
• Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee Report
• Fundraising Subcommittee Report
• Status Update on Low Gap Park Site
• Status Update on Sale of North Fire Station Property
• Status Update on Clay Street Property Acquisition
• Update on Parks & Rec Commission discussion about putting a ramp in an existing park: set up a subcommittee to this end?
• Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding the website—Check it out: www.ukiahskatepark.com

Friday, May 23, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Bob Beltrami, Paul Anderson, George Phelan, Joy Beeler, Lisa Mammina, Marianne Mulheren, Kathleen Stone, Sage Sangiacomo, Randall Feare, Carole Aleshire and Jim Mulheren.

Introductions were made.

Thanks from Bob (and all of us) to Ukiah Custom Cabinets for providing pizza.

Approval of May 9 meeting minutes: Approved without change. In response to the question as to whether to post minutes to the website with “draft” notation, it was decided to hold off posting them until they have been accepted at the next subsequent meeting.

Review of Low Gap and Clay Street sites: Sage and Paul reported on Zack Wormhoudt’s visit to both sites which was also attended by Justin and Matt. Zack looks at lots of sites, and without having looked at soils reports for either site, overall both sites looked decent in his estimation. Clay Street drainage could be an issue because the bowls would sit at some depth in the ground. Could require a sump pump which would add a small cost and add to maintenance costs, but not thought to be a big issue. Soil donated and brought in and compacted could be used as a partial solution. Low Gap would drain into the creek so would not be an issue. Any runoff from a skate bowl is considered clean, not like parking lot runoff. Sage will check with the planning department to see if these are issues needing to be addressed.

Pros and cons discussed with Zack: Low Gap cons well known, opposition from Ukiah Players and High School and not centrally located but a beautiful site. Clay Street is in the center of town, easily accessible. On Clay St., a building close to a skatepark seemed an unusual situation to Zack but not necessarily a bad thing. The building would house maintenance equipment, not for occupancy, so shouldn’t be an issue. Paul was very impressed with Zack, felt it was a very worthwhile meeting. Sage will be pulling a recent soils report for the museum addition as a close estimate for the East Clay Street site and providing that to Zack. He has the Low Gap Park soils report to review. Sage believes Zack will give us some written detail about the two sites, at no charge to us.
The decision may soon come down to the issue of which site is available sooner for us.

Status Update on Sale of North Fire Station: Ukiah City Council reviewed the bids received in closed session and are in the process of making a counter offer to one bid. It appears as if these negotiations will come to a conclusion on June 4, again in closed session. The sale is proceeding along normal timelines.

Status update on Clay Street property acquisition: An offer has been received from Fullerton’s attorney, and it was established by the City that the initial offer is unreasonable. A counter offer will be made, with the City having set a ceiling of the amount to spend on the property. City Council has directed staff that if this is to happen it must be quick, with no dragged out negotiations. Agendized for closed session of the City Council on June 4.

Status update on Low Gap Park site: In case the City is unable to purchase the Clay Street property (as the first choice), the City Council and City staff are in the process of starting discussions with Ukiah Players to keep that process moving along at the same time. They want to learn more about Ukiah Players’ concerns so we can know what can be dealt with and resolved. These meetings would probably include Bob as part of our Executive Subcommittee and also a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission. We know that some of the issues include parking: what could be more important is traffic flow for dropping off and picking up skaters; and sound: it is noted that the ventilation system now is open without HVAC system, which we may be able to help mitigate. Zack indicated that plantings aren’t really effective in deflecting sound, we would more likely be looking at sound walls. If the Clay Street site is deemed impossible, Low Gap timeline could move ahead since purchase of the property is not an issue.

It appears we are very close to getting a site! Paul asked how wedded committee members are to one site or the other. The main objection to the Clay Street site is the risk of leaving children in an area populated with an unsavory element, but we know Larry has a vision of a healthy environment there with improvements planned. The pros are the central location, downtown merchants and neighbors are excited about this as a site, and it is thought that fundraising may be easier for this site than Low Gap, since the park would largely remove the skating damage from the downtown area. On Low Gap, the cons are the lack of visibility, it is far from the center of town, opposition from the Players and the High School, and the instability of the soils. Pros are that the City owns the land, there are multigenerational elements already present and the site is beautiful. Proximity of this site to the High School is a plus for kids, a minus from the school’s perspective. We’re all willing to go with either site.

Report from Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee: Mimine not present to report. Bob understood that she would be talking to Suzanne of the Mendocino Community Foundation about our application in the near future. We’ll hope for a report at our next meeting.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report: Joy reported that they haven’t met since our last full committee meeting, next meeting will be June 13, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. at Joy’s office. Joy requests permission to purchase the lucite boxes proposed to put in stores around town for raising money. The total amount will be $367.83 for 50 boxes, including shipping. Motion to authorize this check was made and seconded, carried with no objection. The donation of $500 from Dunnewood Vineyards will be sent soon to be deposited to the checking account to cover these costs.

Status of Parks & Rec Commission discussion about putting a ramp in an existing park: Bob reported that the Parks & Recreation Commission had a brief discussion about putting ramps in existing parks. Concerns continue about problems with liability and insurance, and the requirement for fencing. They would prefer to support our putting on special events in existing parking lots as has been done before.

If the ramps are too much trouble or in bad shape, rails and boxes would still bring out skaters to these events. These events must be staffed, require that skaters and parents sign waivers, helmets must be worn and monitored, and still require the labor of getting the elements set up. The City would support these events with insurance coverage, cleanup and garbage pickup, etc.

Sage mentioned that the idea was raised to allow one waiver for a year’s period, which would speed up the processing of getting skaters up and skating at these events. Sage will work up a waiver form that would be acceptable for this purpose.

Another idea is the newly paved parking lot behind City Hall, but Justin hasn’t looked at it yet to determine if it is as good a skatable surface as the one on West Clay. How about the new community center at the south end of town? They are most likely pretty focused on getting the building going, and negotiations would have to take place with Ukiah Unified School District as the property is partly in their jurisdiction.

What direction do we want to take with this? Do we want to create a subcommittee to set up these special events? Lisa wants to take part in this effort. Could Matt take part in this? Maybe other youth that Justin and Matt know can take over when they can’t be involved. Key concerns would be to keep in contact with the fundraising committee to keep the dates clear, and to tie the decisions to build or buy or setup in with the fundraising committee. We wondered if these decisions would fit into another of the subcommittees. Decided to table this discussion until next meeting, hoping for input from Justin and Matt.

Website Redevelopment: Marianne would like to do some redesign of the website with a table format on the home page, including the “Doin’ it for our Kids” and Nathan’s picture, and change the menu to the side with main headings that expand when selected. She’d like to post minutes of subcommittee meetings. There are several pages that have no content and merely say “under construction” that she would like to hide until we get them fleshed out. Can we add the resource list? Okay with everyone if we include only the names. Carole will send an email to the entire list asking if anyone has any objection to their names being included. Also would like to include a form for visitors to add their names to the resource list if desired. Marianne would like to make the site more compatible between Windows Explorer and Netscape and make it simpler. She needs more pictures and they are easy to drop in, so everyone should remember to take pictures at events and pass them on. She’d like to include Public Relations information. As decided earlier in the meeting, minutes won’t be posted until they’ve been approved.

Action Items:

• Sage will check with the planning department to see if drainage and runoff are issues needing to be addressed.
• Sage will work up a waiver form that would be acceptable for use for a year at a time, rather than requiring a new waiver form at each skating event.
• Carole will email Resource List members to ask if they have objections to having their names on the website, and email the results to Marianne within a couple of weeks.
• Next Fundraising Subcommittee meeting June 13, 10:00
• 11:00 a.m. at Joy’s office at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center
• Candace and Larry will continue to gather information on the two proposed sites for discussion at each subsequent meeting with the goal of a recommendation by April-June, 2003.

Prior Action Items not yet addressed:

• Topic for Fundraising Subcommittee meeting: How can we move ahead to get a fun box set up on weekends at the West Clay Street parking lot within the next month?
• Mimine will be following up on our application with the Mendocino Community Foundation.
• Sage will ask Larry if this is the time to bring up the soils issue on the Clay Street property.
• Justin will supply some kind of a composite drawing of a skate park to the Fundraising Subcommittee.

Next Meeting:
Friday, June 13, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

• Approval of minutes from May 23 meeting
• Status Update on Low Gap Park Site
• Status Update on Sale of North Fire Station Property
• Status Update on Clay Street Property Acquisition
• Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee Report
• Fundraising Subcommittee Report
• Public Relations Subcommittee Report
• Design Subcommittee Report
• Documentation Subcommittee Report
• Special Skate Events: Set up a subcommittee or ?
• Review Action Items from May 23 Meeting Minutes
• Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding the website—Check it out: www.ukiahskatepark.com

Friday, June 13, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Bob Beltrami, Justin Capri, Matt Wilson, Lisa Mammina, Marianne Mulheren, Rex Eiffert, Randall Feare, Dina Polkinghorne, Joy Beeler, Jonathan Whipple, Mimine Ambrois, Carole Aleshire and Larry DeKnoblough for a short but well-timed period.

Thanks to Ukiah Custom Cabinets for providing pizza.

Approval of May 23 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Review of Low Gap and Clay Street sites and Status Update on Sale of North Fire Station:
It appearing that neither Larry nor Sage would be present to update us officially on these issues, some discussion ensued, including word from Paul Anderson through Joy that at the May 23 meeting he was in error about the date of the agenda item for negotiations on acquisition of the Clay Street property. The correct date is June 18, and the issue will be discussed in closed session.

According to Bob, at a recent Sun House Guild meeting, City Councilwoman Mari Rodin said only that there is a large gap between what Fullerton wants and what the City wants to pay for the Clay Street property.

Jonathan, a licensed real estate broker, doesn’t think it’s a lack of desire on Fullerton’s part, but perhaps he feels the fire station is a close enough property that he can up the price because of the high price on the fire station. We’ve been told previously that the City has requested backup reasons for the increased price and if valid, an agreement could conceivably be reached. If not, should eminent domain be pulled into play? The City has expressed no desire to head in that direction, wants to follow a more friendly approach. How does the committee feel about pushing the eminent domain approach? Could be a problem for fundraising, but perhaps not if we look at the pattern of the Ukiah Valley Cultural Center. Perhaps we should wait for the report on the 27th (next meeting) and if the response is no on Clay street, we go forward with Low Gap? There was considerable discussion along these lines.

Dina shared that the North Coast Railroad Association (NCRA) is very open to selling some of the land by the depot, that it could have some contamination issues but not thought to be a big deal.

At this very timely point, Larry arrived. He addressed the three agenda items:

• Low Gap update: The Wormhoudt people are looking at the soils report to make recommendations.


• Clay Street Property: A soils report for the museum addition was sent to Wormhoudt. May or may not apply to that property, but is thought to be close enough. Biggest issue is going to be drainage, and could be a big issue.


• North State Fire Station Sale: together with the purchase of Clay Street property, is on the agenda for closed session of the Ukiah City Council on June 18. Larry assumes a decision will be made at that point. Negotiations have been amiable. City Council realizes we are at a critical point so out of these negotiations we will come up with a site for the skatepark.

Dina brought Larry up to date on our discussion about NCRA being willing to sell part of the property to the City for the skatepark. Part of that area could be for a pocket park already proposed, and the City has begun working with Rotary on that project. The groundbreaking for the pocket park should be sometime this summer. Could be a possibility to work a skatepark into the existing plans with a little footbridge over the creek. The property management committee of NCRA is the body to negotiate with, which meets as needed, without a set schedule..

Discussion followed: Would we want to reopen the whole issue and add another site at this point? This could be a step back in the process, but perhaps not, considering the degree of opposition to the Low Gap site and the measures we would need to address to deal with the opposition. Negotiations with NCRA could go quickly if they are indeed willing to sell for this purpose. We agreed it would be good to keep more than one site on the table at all times. Larry is willing to explore the NCRA property. We’d want an acre ideally (including the pocket park), but ½ acre could work. We’re still looking at a minimum of 10,000 square feet for the park. Petroleum distillates and asphalt would probably be the contaminants, mostly at or close to the surface and so likely not a big problem. Larry will sit down with the director and Dina to plot out a location on the site, then get together with our Executive Subcommittee and set up a meeting with the property committee. This site wouldn’t lose us anything from a fundraising perspective, as it is still downtown. Mimine looked up our ratings from several years ago, and this site was rated highest along with Low Gap and Todd Grove. It was rated high on most factors, lower on safety of access to skaters on Perkins, parking (then, as joined with the cultural center), and proximity to the schools. Larry said there is a traffic study coming up on all the downtown area, will be looking at a Leslie tie-in, among other things. Rex asked if environmental contamination poses problems for public projects such as this. Larry said if we’re not disturbing the source of contamination, and if the site is not to be utilized for a water source, there are not a lot of cleanup requirements being enforced.

Larry had to leave the meeting at this point.

Report from Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee (Mimine):
Mimine brought draft agreements drawn up by The Community Foundation of Mendocino County. They are satisfied with our group, and the only question the board had was what would happen if, by the date we give, we don’t have a site and can’t start utilizing the accumulated funds? This question is addressed in the “Designated Fund Agreement” with a date of 6/30/06 by which we intend to start construction of the park. It is not likely to be a problem and the Foundation is in the end satisfied. They accepted our idea of giving us several years. The Foundation will use input from “the donors,” who are Carole, Sage and Joy, who are all part of the Executive Subcommittee and designated to sign the Agreement along with making a small donation ($25 each?) to get the Fund started. The MOU for this agreement is to be signed by Sage or Larry, named as representative for Ukiah Parks and Recreation. A meeting is to be set up for getting this going when Susanne Norgard gets back from vacation.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Joy):
The donation boxes have come in, the invoice was passed to Carole (still acting as Treasurer) for the check already written ($367.83), and the $500 donation check from Dunnewood Vineyards for this purpose was signed over to the Ukiah Skate Park Fund for deposit into the existing checking account. The subcommittee has lots of other ideas for fundraising to be discussed later (time is short today). Rex asked if it is time to bring in donations of cement. The subcommittee is working on a form for donations, could be used for concrete etc. Wormhoudt will give a yardage estimate when we need it. Big donators will get their name on the donor wall, on a tile produced by Hoyman-Browe. Rex is ready to work on talking to concrete people to shmooze once he has our committee approval. Okay was given for preliminary discussions. These companies may have corporate giving situations, which could require discussions between their local and corporate people.

Website Redevelopment:
Marianne has completed a re-design of the website, which several of the group have seen and liked. Justin suggested adding the subcommittees and what they are about, who is on them, meeting times, contact info, email address for chair of subcommittee, and a form to join or they should be welcome to just show up. Another possibility discussed is to just direct people to come to a steering committee meeting, rather than try to do a contact form. The website is www.ukiahskatepark.com , check it out! Thanks to Marianne for her great work on the website!

Action Items:

• Larry will talk with NCRA’s director and Dina to determine what space is available, then set up a meeting for our Executive Subcommittee to meet with NCRA’s property committee.


• A meeting will be set up with Susanne Norgard to finalize our Fund agreements.


• Candace and Larry will continue to gather information on the two proposed sites for discussion at each subsequent meeting with the goal of a recommendation by April-June, 2003.

• Sage will check with the planning department to see if drainage and runoff are issues needing to be addressed.


• Sage will work up a waiver form that would be acceptable for use for a year at a time, rather than requiring a new waiver form at each skating event.


• Carole will email Resource List members to ask if they have objections to having their names on the website, and email the results to Marianne within a couple of weeks.


• Topic for Fundraising Subcommittee meeting: How can we move ahead to get a fun box set up on weekends at the West Clay Street parking lot within the next month? (from 5/9 meeting)


• Justin will supply some kind of a composite drawing of a skate park to the Fundraising Subcommittee.

Next Meeting:
Friday, June 27, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

• Approval of minutes from June 15 meeting


• Status Update on Low Gap Park Site


• Status Update on Sale of North Fire Station Property


• Status Update on Clay Street Property Acquisition


• Status Update on Potential Site on Railroad Property


• Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee Report


• Fundraising Subcommittee Report


• Public Relations Subcommittee Report


• Design Subcommittee Report


• Documentation Subcommittee Report


• Special Skate Events: Set up a subcommittee or ?


• Review Action Items from June 13 Meeting Minutes


• Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding the website—Check it out:

  www.ukiahskatepark.com

Friday, June 27, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Bob Beltrami, Larry DeKnoblough, Mimine Ambrois, Lisa Mammina, Orion Walker, Jonathan Whipple, Justin Capri, Carole Aleshire, Marianne Mulheren, Dina Polkinghorne, Kathleen Stone, Matt Wilson and George Phelan.

Thanks to Ukiah Custom Cabinets for providing pizza.

Approval of June 13 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Additions to Agenda: Website (not at the last minute, please) (Marianne); Suggestion to work up from the bottom to the top of the agenda (Lisa); Adopt-a-park like Sun Valley (Lisa), Wormhoudt (Matt).

Website: Marianne has finished refurbishing the website, and requests that we please look it over and make suggestions. As requested, she has added a page about our subcommittees, their purposes and members. Please look to see if it is as desired.. Marianne added a contact person for each subcommittee, and is seeking approval from those people: Joy (not present due to Taste of Downtown setup) we know is okay for the Fundraising Subcommittee. For Public Relations: Mimine—okay. Design: Justin—okay. Documentation: Matt—okay if it’s just for someone for people to contact. Marianne thought it would be nice to have links to other skatepark sites in our area, so perhaps someone could contact someone at those sites for permission and exchange so ours is on their site too. It was suggested we just use skatepark.org, which link is already on our website. If anyone has more information on this s/he should give the information to Marianne. The resource list is on the website now, with just our names as requested. It will be updated as more names are added.

Review of Status of All Proposed Sites: Council approved a bid for sale of the North Firestation for $670,000, which will make some money available for purchasing a site for the skatepark, if that proves necessary.

Larry reported that negotiations on Clay Street are not going very well at all. Larry wouldn’t say it’s not going to happen at all, but it doesn’t look very good at this point.

Larry, Dina & the interim director of NCRA had a great meeting about the potential for using some of the railroad property on Perkins for a skate park. Larry will be getting a map of the site property to start mapping how it would be proposed. The site would have good exposure, good visibility, in close proximity to a pocket park already in the planning stages. The part we would have access to is not part of the contaminated area. Larry hopes to work up a plan to go over at our next meeting on July 11. The property is in a 17-year escrow so we would have a long-term lease. The city would enter into a lease for the portion of the property, perhaps with an option to purchase, 17 years out. There are issues on other areas based on property lines, not involving our area. We need to discuss how this site would work in this committee, then the Executive Subcommittee would take it to NCRA’s Property Committee. Dina has just been promoted to Property Manager, among other things at NCRA. It is a public authority, not a corporation. We would make a presentation, and if the Property Committee agrees it would go to the NCRA Board. If that board approves, it could go forward. Dina stresses that we need to have a neat and tidy proposal that should answer anticipated questions, because some members of the board come as far as Humboldt so we don’t want them to have to come back for answers. This doesn’t have to be a lengthy process. It could be a condition of the lease that we can carry the lease for 40-50 years or otherwise keep the skate park safe from being removed. The lease-purchase agreement would have all the safety built into it, and couldn’t be changed down the line. The NCRA full board meets the 3rd Wed of every month with the upcoming August meeting in Arcata.

The timeline could well move quickly ahead of both the Low Gap and Clay Street sites. The RR property would be great from the City’s viewpoint as it becomes part of a creek park pathway. The vision is for a pedestrian, skateable surface for the creekpath to get to the skatepark, part of a larger creekpath in town. Parking is good, with a plan for a bus pullout for mass transit. Per Matt, we need .07 parking spaces for 1,000 sq. ft. of skatepark. A rose garden is also proposed there, as well as NCRA offices. What happens to funds from the firestation if we do a lease rather than purchase property? Could it be earmarked for eventual purchase of this property? Larry says there are no specifics on price yet, it’s too preliminary to say. We may well have support from NBR, the closest neighbor.

Low Gap Park: No report, Larry has been focused on the RR property. Phil Baldwin did meet with representatives of the Ukiah Players, who would be willing to support the skate park if it were moved to west of the tennis courts. The children’s playground would be displaced, as well as trees planted 25 years ago by Marianne & others.

Now moving to the bottom of the agenda:

Adopt a park / fun box (Lisa): Along the lines of a Sister City project: A skatepark in Sun Valley, Idaho, is being proposed to be pulled out to move across the street. We could somehow support them, they could support us. They could use our help! Lisa’s proposal for putting in fun boxes: Lisa has bought the building formerly housing Jerry’s TV on the corner of South State and East Church. The building is now empty, but she plans to create a beautiful place which could house a fun box, not requiring it to be broken down between uses. Someone asked if REMIF can cover us for insurance. Lisa is meeting with her insurance agent today, and Larry says we wouldn’t involve REMIF unless it’s impossible any other way. Could we lease the space from Lisa to be covered by REMIF? Larry has no idea. 12’ x 50’ x 14’ high area, could hold ramps and it currently has a 6’ grinding rail. Matt will go with Lisa to her insurance agent. One concept being developed is AIR—Artists in Residence. There will be a stage for programming. The northwest corner is falling in, may make it an outdoors area.

Wormhoudt (Matt): Matt contacted Zack Wormhoudt for a materials list based on a 20,000 sq. ft. park, for Matt to take with Rex to Granite Construction and others to request donations of materials. It is a larger park than we expect so materials are more than we need, but it’s someplace to start. Matt also sent the list to Sage.

Special skate events: separate subcommittee?: Justin feels we need a separate subcommittee, not part of another subcommittee. Larry recommends representatives from the Public Relations and Fundraising as part of it. Justin is hoping for some help with the setup and running the events, including help from everyone on the main committee. It was suggested that we should have more young people on this subcommittee, but we still need adults to take responsibility and keep things in line. Could be hard to get kids to come to meetings, but this would have a more immediate outcome than the long process of finding a site has been. Orion has had conversations at the Youth Project, many are willing to get involved. Next event will be in September. Matt & Justin will head up this subcommittee. Skate Events Subcommittee report will be added to each agenda.

Report from Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee (Mimine): A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 2 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Suzanne’s office for signing the documents to become official with the Mendocino Community Foundation. Suzanne will have the documents on computer in case last minute changes are needed. Joy, Carole, and Sage will be signing on behalf of the Committee and the City and Candace will be signing for the City on the Memo of Understanding.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Dina): Subcommittee hasn’t met since the last full Committee meeting.

Public Relations Subcommittee Report: Subcommittee has not met yet.

Design Subcommittee Report: Subcommittee has not met yet.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: Subcommittee has not met yet.

Discussion of Prior Action Items:

• Sage checking with planning department about drainage and runoff—for Clay St. site specifically?


• Annual waiver form Sage was going to work up—there was some discussion about how it would work, but Sage not present so no progress report.


• Carole emailed the Resource List members to ask if they have objections to having their names on the website, received no negative responses and the list has been posted to the website, names only.


• Topic for Fundraising Subcommittee meeting: How can we move ahead to get a fun box set up on weekends at the West Clay Street parking lot within the next month? (from 5/9 meeting): This may have been dealt with by Lisa’s offer of the building for a fun box that doesn’t need to be torn down, and the plan for a Skate Events Subcommittee with an event planned for September.


• Justin will supply some kind of a composite drawing of a skate park to the Fundraising Subcommittee: Done. Justin provided drawings of Willits’ planned skate park.

Action Items:

• Larry will get a map of the NCRA’s property and come up with a tentative plan for location of a skate park to be discussed at our July 11 meeting, then we’ll set up a meeting for our Executive Subcommittee to meet with NCRA’s property committee.


• Candace and Larry will continue to gather information on all proposed sites for discussion at each subsequent meeting with the goal of a recommendation by April-June, 2003. (Need to come up with a new timeline.)

Prior Action Items not yet addressed:

• Sage will check with the planning department to see if drainage and runoff are issues needing to be addressed. (Specifically for Clay Street site?)


• Sage will work up a waiver form that would be acceptable for use for a year at a time, rather than requiring a new waiver form at each skating event.

Next Meeting:
Friday, July 11, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

• Approval of minutes from June 27 meeting


• Status Update on Low Gap Park Site


• Status Update on Clay Street Property Acquisition


• Status Update on Potential Site on Railroad Property


• Revisit timeline of April-June 2003 for a recommendation to City Council on a site


• Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee Report


• Fundraising Subcommittee Report


• Public Relations Subcommittee Report


• Design Subcommittee Report


• Documentation Subcommittee Report


• Skate Events Subcommittee Report


• Review Action Items from June 27 Meeting Minutes


• Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding the website—Check it out: www.ukiahskatepark.com

Friday, July 11, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Bob Beltrami, Randall Feare, Jonathan Whipple, Joy Beeler, Larry DeKnoblough, Orion Walker, Mimine Ambrois and Carole Aleshire.
Attendance was sparse, perhaps because the word was out that Ukiah Custom Cabinets would not be represented and therefore no pizza!

Approval of June 27 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Additions to Agenda: None

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site: no report, Larry has been focused on the RR property. The area proposed by Phil Baldwin and supported by the Ukiah Players, west of the tennis courts, is said to be too small for consideration for a skate park.

Status Update on Clay Street Acquisition: No progress, not likely to be any progress. This site is being removed from consideration for a skate park site unless and until any progress is made.

Status Update on Potential Site on Railroad Property (Larry): Larry brought aerial photos to sketch on, showed us the area NCRA has in a 17-year escrow, which area is available for our skate park. Looks like about an acre available to us. (1 acre = 42,560 square feet.) We want a minimum of 20,000 sq. ft. of skateable area. This would leave lots of room for landscaping. The area is south of the triangle area set aside for a pocket park and south of Gibson Creek, east of the existing RR sidings and west of a strip of property along Leslie Street. The creek is a steelhead fishery but seasonal only.

Larry is seeking approval from the committee to take a proposal to the City Council and the NCRA property committee. He would like help to draw up a configuration on the map for what we want to take to NCRA. He would propose a 30-year lease with option to buy at some point or at end of escrow.

A motion to approve creation of a proposal for the skatepark on the property to be presented to the City Council and the NCRA property committee was made and seconded, all in favor, none opposed. The design subcommittee would be the logical group to help with the proposal. Larry will head up the effort and contact members of the design subcommittee. Orion would like to join that subcommittee. He sketched out 2 very rough designs, one 16,000 sq. ft. & one 30,000 sq. ft. parks, just rough ideas without a lot of experience.

Before Larry takes it to NCRA, he will take it to the City Council as an update. The City Council is aware of the discussions with NCRA. At the City Council meeting on August 6 Larry will update the Council on the three properties previously being considered and adding this one, seeking direction from Council to proceed with negotiations. No discussion about lease amount or purchase price is planned unless council wants to discuss it.

Holdups could include any soil test results or any desire on the part of Northwestern Pacific RR, who owns the property and is leasing it to NCRA during a 17-year escrow, to offload the property sometime in the future. There could already have been recent soils tests for contamination in which case we won’t need to do that. NW Pacific would have to agree to any long term lease to the City that extends beyond the lease held by the NCRA, but Larry understands that the only reason for the long esrow is to allow time for NW Pacific to clean up any hazardous soils (thought to be south of the area we are considering).

The City would lease the property (this is a discussion for the City Council) as lead agency, but the City would want an escape clause in case we couldn’t get the skate park built. It would not be a token lease payment amount, but no expectations as to lease amount have been discussed.

Revisit timeline of April-June 2003 for a Site Recommendation to City Council: We have not met this timeline but progress continues on this exciting new site at the Railroad Depot, and the City Council will be updated on all of the sites with this one proposed as our top choice, at the Aug. 6 City Council meeting. Attendance by Skate Park Committee members would be good, to respond to any questions and to demonstrate our continued interest.

Report from Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee (Mimine): Joy & Carole have signed the agreements with the Community Foundation of Mendocino County (CFMC) and made their initial tax-exempt contributions. Sage still needs to sign and get the piece back from Candace Horsley to Susanne. Once that is done, the CFMC Board of Directors can ratify acceptance of the agreements and we should be ready to accept tax-exempt contributions.

Any small contributions and raffle proceeds, etc. from our events will go to our checking account, but we thought it would be good to set a lower end limit for tax-exempt donations although CFMC sets no such limits. However, because CFMC responds to each donation with a letter, we don’t want to burden them with small amounts. We decided on $25 as the minimum we will accept as tax deductible. CFMC will not be charging us the 2% handling fee for now, though that could be changed in the future.

Once this is all finalized, if someone wants to make a tax-deductible donation to the Skate Park, we will tell them the minimum is $25 and checks are to be made out to CFMC with “Skate Park Fund” in the memo section of the check.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Joy): They had a meeting just prior to this meeting. They have selected a design for promoting the 50 plastic donation boxes purchased, including a picture of a young skateboarder and our mission statement, with the website and Justin’s phone number at the shop. Joy suggested a including posed picture of a young skateboarder. Joy would like anyone’s suggestions for high-traffic businesses to put the donation boxes as soon as possible. The offer has gone out to downtown merchants, bringing some good responses. The Coffee Critic is also on board.

The time is right to develop a Power Point presentation—Joy would like to ask the Public Relations Subcommittee to work on this with the high school class that put together a presentation a year or so ago, with teacher Joanna Skywalker. Dina & George are both willing to work on it. They will talk to Ms. Skywalker about putting this into the curriculum for the next school year. We are of course still waiting for a site before launching a full-blown fundraising effort, but we want to have everything in place ready to get going on fundraising once we have our site. Joy started putting together a brochure, and would like the public relations to work on that too. Bob will put together an email to all members of the Public Relations Subcommittee asking them to convene to start work on these two projects.

Public Relations Subcommittee Report: Subcommittee has not met yet. Bob will email members asking them to convene to start work on a Power Point presentation and a publicity brochure.

Design Subcommittee Report Subcommittee: has not met yet. Larry will be contacting members to help with the site recommendation for the RR site.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: Subcommittee has not met yet.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: No representatives of this subcommittee were present.

Discussion of June 27 Action Items: See above, RR property site and April-June timeline.

Action Items:

• Larry will contact members of the design subcommittee for help on roughing out a recommendation for City Council and NCRA Property Committee for the RR site.


• Sage needs to sign agreements with CFMC and get the papers back from Candace Horsley to Susanne.


• Bob will email Publicity Subcommittee members asking them to convene to start work on a Power Point presentation and a publicity brochure.

Prior Action Items not yet addressed:

• Sage will work up a waiver form that would be acceptable for use for a year at a time, rather than requiring a new waiver form at each skating event.

Next Meeting:
Friday, July 25, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

• Approval of minutes from July 11 meeting


• Status Update on Railroad Property Site


• Status Update on Low Gap Park Site


• Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee Report


• Fundraising Subcommittee Report


• Public Relations Subcommittee Report


• Design Subcommittee Report


• Documentation Subcommittee Report


• Skate Events Subcommittee Report


• Review Action Items from July 11 Meeting Minutes


• Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding the website—Check it out: www.ukiahskatepark.com

Friday, July 25, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Larry DeKnoblough, Jim Mulheren, Dina Polkinghorne, Orion Walker, Paul Andersen, Mimine Ambrois, Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Jonathan Whipple, Marianne Mulheren and (a little later) Justin Capri (co-VP).

Thanks to Ukiah Custom Cabinets for providing pizza from Awesome Slice of Pizza!

When President Bob Beltrami failed to show, Larry took up the task of facilitating the meeting.

Approval of July 11 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Status Update on Railroad Property Site: Larry met at the site with Justin & Matt who loved it as proposed by the steering committee at the July 11 meeting, when neither had been able to attend. Dina is setting up a meeting Aug 1 after the NCRA board meeting for their property committee meeting, around 11:30 at the Ukiah Conference Center, for Larry to introduce our proposal, and see if they would be inclined to approve it. They will probably meet again at another time to discuss the proposal among themselves. Dina suggests Larry should be prepared to answer objections about reckless youth, the first prejudice people most often have toward skateboarders. Paul will plan on being at the meeting as well as Larry. On the property committee are Bob Simonson, Leo Sears from Humboldt Cty and Budge Campbell. Larry will prepare a proposal with the aerial photos and our ideas for orienting the skate park. Dina suggests a packet with some history, the length of time we’ve spent on this project to date, and how NCRA could be the hero here if this site works out for the skate park.

Larry will address the City Council on Aug. 6 to update them on our progress, the fact that we are no longer considering Clay Street as a possibility, and this exciting new site as a possibility. As mentioned previously, attendance by Skate Park Committee members would be good, to respond to any questions and to demonstrate our continued interest.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site: No news since last meeting. However, Larry has talked with Pete Halstead, County Buildings and Grounds Manager, regarding Low Gap Park. They are preparing for an upgrade to the playground area. This would preclude locating the skate park in the playground area as Phil Baldwin has suggested. This area appeared to us to be too small an area anyway. This will be part of Larry’s discussion with the City Council.

Report from Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee (Mimine): Sage was to go over this morning (on his day off) to sign the papers with CFMC, as Carole and Joy already have. Larry doesn’t know if he took with him the document from Candace, but he will check into it. That is the last piece necessary to get the project of tax-exempt funding underway.

From last minutes, once this is all finalized, if someone wants to make a tax-deductible donation to the skate park, we will tell them the minimum is $25 and checks are to be made out to CFMC with “Skate Park Fund” in the memo section of the check.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Joy): Jonathan reported, as Joy was not in attendance (she was at a workshop for the day). Today’s 11:00 meeting apparently didn’t occur. Jonathan is talking to Dave Madrigal in Willits for ideas that have worked for them. Sites for donation boxes: we should wait for the list from this subcommittee, then add sites if not included. Next meeting Aug 8 at 11:00, Jonathan thinks.

Larry’s aside: he met with Ukiah Rotary this week regarding the pocket park at the RR site. He mentioned the skate park project and the possibility of blending it in with the pocket park. They loved the concept. They want to be part of the fundraising effort. South Ukiah Rotary has also pledged their support.

Larry added that the National Bank of the Redwoods property has been surveyed by John Horn of NBR so the eastern property line should be easy.

Public Relations Subcommittee Report: Subcommittee has not met yet. Mimine and Jim, the only people here from this subcommittee, proposed Friday, Aug 15 for the first meeting, at the Ukiah Conference Center at noon. Jim will set up a room and contact other people on that subcommittee.

Design Subcommittee Report: Subcommittee has not met yet. If we get a favorable response from NCRA, the Design Subcommittee should meet and come up with some rough proposals to supply to the property committee to show elevation and how it could fit in the site. Brian with the city may be able to help with sketching it out. Jim Lacey (engineer) may be able to help too, Mimine said, though he won’t want to meet, he may be willing to take a rough drawing and make it presentable. Or Zack Wormhoudt might be willing to help with that too.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: Subcommittee has not met yet. Marianne had thought there might be major overlap with Public Relations but when we looked at the purpose, it sounds like too much for Public Relations to take on. (The purpose, as stated in May 9’s minutes, is: “responsible for creating a complete history of the project to date and compile a Board packet. They shall also compile and maintain the documentation of meeting minutes of all subcommittees, the Steering Committee and any public meetings and periodically update the Board packet”) If subcommittee minutes are brought to the steering committee meetings and entered into the record that way, it’s not such an onerous task. Maybe this subcommittee would only meet quarterly to build and keep up the history. Matt has some history to incorporate from back to 1997. Larry will call Matt and see where he is with the history and see if he can help him.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: No meeting has been held yet, but Justin reported that the annual event is being scheduled for either August16 or August 23 in the parking lot at Clay and School as usual. The date will be depend on when Justin’s friends (sponsored by a shoe company) are available to do a demo. Jim says he needs the space back where the ramps are being stored, so when they are pulled out for this event, we will need to find another place for the ramps. Larry will help try to locate a site for storage, maybe under the bleachers at Anton Stadium if it’s big enough. It’s estimated we need 600 to 800 square feet of space.

We talked about how to handle Justin’s requests for money for improving or expanding the ramps, and for other costs of putting on these events and the need to be more formal about it than we have been in the past, now that we are a more formal committee and we want to demonstrate accountability. Perhaps Justin could write up a paragraph-long proposal, take it to the Executive Subcommittee for recommendation to the full committee. For now, to meet the immediate needs for upgrading and expanding the ramps, a motion was made and seconded for Carole (as outgoing treasurer) to write a $1000 check to Friedman Brothers to set up an account for Justin and his workers to charge against for needed supplies. The motion was approved without objection and the check was written and given to Justin.

It was suggested that when we have a site and are ready to start asking for donations of supplies, we hold a kickoff jam and recruit sponsors to be mentioned on a poster publicizing the event.

Discussion of July 11 Action Items:

Discussion of Prior Action Items:

Action Items:

Next Meeting:
Friday, August 8, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

Friday, August 8, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Dina Polkinghorne, Joy Beeler (Treasurer), Jonathan Whipple, Phil Baldwin, Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Orion Walker, Rex Eiffert, Lisa Mamina, Justin Capri (co-VP) and Matt Wilson (co-VP).

Thanks to Rex for providing pizza!

In President Bob Beltrami’s absence, Matt took up the task of facilitating the meeting.

Approval of July 25 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Status Update on Railroad Property Site: Larry made a presentation to the property committee of NCRA as to what part of the property we’re looking at. Some on the property committee suggested pushing it back farther south, which would be into the contaminated area. That will not be our proposal, as cleaning up of the contamination could put us off for a long time. The cleanest portion is the area we’re looking at, with an acre as the goal. The portion where we want the skate park has never been used by the railroad and would be unlikely to be used in the future. The committee asked that we come back with a formal proposal with as much detail as we can. They want not so much a design as an offer, which would need to come from the City Council. At this Wednesday’s City Council meeting, after presentation by Larry of the status of the various sites, Council asked staff to do some site comparisons. We would like to ask the Council to go into discussion on this site and come up with an offer for the NCRA property committee. A motion was introduced: to go to Candace Horsley on behalf of the Skate Park Committee, to request that she put an item on the next City Council agenda for August 20, for Council to consider formulating an offer for lease-option or purchase of the 1 acre northeast portion of the NCRA property south of the creek and pocket park, for the purpose of building a skatepark. The motion was seconded and carried. Matt will talk to Candace today on our behalf. Matt said he has a friend who is a professional appraiser who will provide a free appraisal. A motion was introduced and seconded to approve Matt approaching his friend with this suggestion. The motion was carried. This site is still the committee’s top choice.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site: This is still a backup site, and it was mentioned that we need to keep our options open. Phil raised his suggestion of the area west of the tennis courts. He said if it is too small, an option could be to remove one of the tennis courts. The city could perhaps give the county some money for the tennis court if it were removed. Larry told us at our last meeting that this area was not to be considered because Pete Halstead of County Grounds has the playground currently at this location planned for upgrade. Phil said that because there is a playground on the other side of the creek, they could perhaps give up the playground that is in the front area. There could be soil issues—was this area covered with the soils report? Next meeting with Larry in attendance we should discuss this as an additional option.

Report from Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee (Mimine): Mimine was not present to report, and neither Larry nor Sage was present to report on completion of requirements with CFMC.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Jonathan): Jonathan has met with Dave Madrigal of the Willits skate park effort. Dave is very willing to share anything of help to us. He’s sharing his plans for the park as well as how they managed a user survey, which helped a great deal with grants from the state as well as small donors, as they were able to show how many people would use the park and how would they could foresee using it. Their grant application was much stronger with this information. Dave recommends that we ask for the maximum of each grant we go for, as they may have received even more if they hadn’t limited their request. Jonathan said that Jennifer Poole wrote Willits’grant proposal, providing a proposal that was professional and well written. Sage has a copy of that application. Granite construction had intended to donate all of the materials for the Willits park, but ended up only giving $5,000, citing the slow economy. The cost of the Willits park is $25/sq. ft. A big chunk of money ($100,000) is coming from the City of Willits, which was originally not going to provide more than the site. A woman at Jonathan’s meeting with Dave suggested a skate train touring counties along the railroad. As a suggestion for our Design Subcommittee, Dave recommends we include some different elements from theirs to provide variety with the county for our skaters.

The Fundraising Subcommittee recommends that we go ahead with a skate park user survey, in schools, to get as quick a response as possible. At our next meeting we should assign this task to one of the subcommittees. We should request that the students fill them out in school the same day they are distributed. We probably want to target middle schools & high schools first. Orion said he thinks he and some people from the Youth Project might be able to get involved in the survey with their connections in the schools.

Rex and Matt have tried to contact Granite Construction about donation of materials, but no appointment has been made yet. Rex wonders if we should go to their national headquarters as well as local. Rex is ready to go, but perhaps should wait until our brochure is in place. 553 cubic yards of cement is what we’re looking at. If one truck hauls 5 yards, we’re looking at about 110 truckloads. The suggestion was made that it might be best to deal with only one cement company if possible to avoid confusion and scheduling problems.

Jonathan handed out the design for Willits park and their user survey for those who wanted copies.

The little banners are ready to be put on the fundraising boxes to go into stores. Running short on time, nothing was said about the list of where the boxes are to go.

Public Relations Subcommittee Report: No one has heard about a meeting being organized yet. Matt requested that Marianne remove Matt’s email address from this subcommittee on the website and replace it with his phone number. He’s not active with his email.

Not mentioned at this meeting were developments from the July 25 meeting: “Mimine and Jim, the only people here from this subcommittee, proposed Friday, Aug 15 for the first meeting, at the Ukiah Conference Center at noon. Jim will set up a room and contact other people on that subcommittee.”

Design Subcommittee Report: There have been no formal meetings, but Justin sat down and tried to come up with a design for the RR site from his head, to give to Jim Lacey or some other engineer to put into the right format.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: No meeting has been held yet. Matt will work to pull together what he has for history to be ready when we get a site.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: No meeting has been held yet, but an event is scheduled for August 16 at the customary spot on the corner of Clay and School. Justin reports the license is in place, Larry is taking care of sign-off for police and fire. Brandon Virgin & Justin have called all contacts from past events, everything is rolling for rebuilding the ramps and other work. He needs committee members to show up at 8:00 with the hope to be set up and rolling by 10:30-11:00. Skating starts when the ramps are done, music around 1:00. There will be a few people to do little presentations between bands.

Help is needed for setup and to sign up skaters, to be available at the information booth and the concession stand. There will be no auction or rummage sale or beer this year. Justin hopes for as many committee members as possible to show up at 8:00 and be able to stay until around noon, then they’ll just need the concession covered and one person to sign up latecomers. There will be a donation jar and a 50/50 raffle. Justin will get some tables, and Rex will supply some. Joy has chairs available in the plaza storage area. Justin has red t-shirts for staff. Mikes Unlimited is supplying trucks for moving the ramps. They are trying to organize a work day to build the ramps. Though sodas will be donated by 7-Up, money from the Skate Park Fund is needed for concession stand stuff, including bottled water. A motion was introduced, seconded and passed for Carole (as outgoing Treasurer) to write a check to Justin for $500 for concession, with any remainder to be returned receipts kept for all purchases.

Discussion of July 25 Action Items: We didn’t get to this item.

Next Meeting:
Friday, August 22, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

Friday, August 22, 2003

No additions to agenda

Approval of August 8 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Status Update on Railroad Property Site (Larry): -- Larry met with Matt and Justin and Bodhi with a blowup of the aerial map, and they went over potential configurations for the site. They came up with one with the spur tracks and one without. They’ll do conceptuals, and have a landscape architect graduate do schematics for us. Sage sent the same aerial map to Wormhoudt for their thoughts on configuration. This was sort of an informal meeting of the Design Subcommittee. The concept to be shown to the NCRA property committee will include the larger picture with the pocket park in addition to the skate park, though the property for the pocket park is not part of the property we are seeking from NCRA. When Larry went before the property committee, there was one member since 1945 who was strongly in favor of the proposal. Once the proposal is developed it will go first to the City Council and then, with their approval, to the NCRA property committee.

Matt has a appraiser friend working on an appraisal for the property, to be included with the proposal.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site (Larry): Larry has only talked to county buildings and grounds and determined that the playground is being upgraded (and not large enough) so not a possibility, and had included that information when he addressed the City Council Aug. 6. At our Aug. 8 meeting Phil Baldwin had said if need be we could take out one of the tennis courts to make enough space for a skate park. Larry agrees that it might be a possibility, but this concept would have to have the approval of the High School as they do scheduling of the courts.

Report from Tax Exempt Funding Subcommittee (Mimine): Mimine was not present to report, but Joy, as Treasurer, has received the final papers from CFMC so it’s apparently a done deal and the subcommittee need no longer exist. Joy will hang onto the final paperwork as Treasurer.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Joy): Joy brought fundraising boxes to be put in stores, and asked that we each take 5 of them to place in stores. Instructions and collection strategy are on the back of the boxes. We should email Joy to let her know where they are so she can manage them. Email address: joymainstreet@pacific.net.

Public Relations Subcommittee Report: The first meeting of this subcommittee didn’t happen as planned but is rescheduled for Friday, August 29 at noon at the Ukiah Conference Center, Reisling Room. Carole will send this information to everyone on the Resource List to hopefully recruit some more members.

For the next event, Jim may have a radio personality who would like to be on the air with the event and also join this subcommittee.

Design Subcommittee Report: No meeting has been held yet.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: No meeting has been held yet.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: Justin reported that they spent about $700 of the $1,000 put on account at Friedman Bros. and they now have solid new and rebuilt ramps to last a lot longer, including some new pieces for variety.

Aug 16 event: Justin reported they spent about $200 on concessions and made back that money and the $700 spent on the ramps between sign-ups and concession sales. 7-Up contributed 20 cases of soda and 10 cases of bottled water, and Wendy’s contributed two big tubs of chili. The event was successful and the kids had a good time. The riders who came to exhibit their skills had a good time and were well fed, which was the only expense in having them come. Apparently some screws were left in the parking lot, which will be watched for next time. Justin noted that in the future we need to have the permit cover Sunday as well as Saturday because everyone is too wiped out to tear down the ramps on Saturday. Rex was very impressed with the behavior and demeanor of everyone involved, kids and adults alike.

Next event is a contest scheduled for Sept. 27, same location. The competition will be on Saturday starting about 11:00 and there will be open skating on Sunday until about 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. Larry suggested they film an advertisement at Justin’s store and get it down to Adelphia, then maybe tape the contest to be run several times on the local TV station. Joy knows somebody who might donate time doing the filming. Justin will do an ad on KWNE as he normally does. It was suggested we should raise money for a banner (to put up on State Street) for better advertising. The cost is around $750. It’s probably too late for this year, as there’s a calendar for posting the banners. Larry said the City has a banner they might be able to put up with this event in the open portion. Joy suggested doing a meal for potential donors with bleachers for them to watch the kids. Rex asked if we could get recycling and trash emptied ahead of time. Larry said the more notice for the permit, the better the chance of getting this scheduled ahead of time. As for music, Justin is open to any big bands that would bring people in, working for a small fee or for free—young band sounds too. The language must be kept clean as local folks handle the music okay but when the language gets foul they complain.

On September 18 the last Willits skatejam will be held as a fundraiser, and Justin will be there with the ramps.

Review of Action Items from Aug. 8 and previous:

Left off of the agenda were a couple of issues that will go onto the agenda for next meeting:

Next Meeting:
Friday, September 12, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

Friday, September 12, 2003

Additions to agenda: A report from Rex

Approval of August 22 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

FUNDRAISING SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT:
As most were aware, one of our fundraising boxes was stolen from the Coffee Critic. It was full enough that they had called Justin and asked that he come and empty it, and before Justin got there it had been stolen. They did not make a police report, but this committee can as the owner of the box. The offender was caught on video tape, Justin has seen the tape and confronted the offender. If we make a police report, Coffee Critic will turn the tape over to the police. Coffee Critic is no longer willing to have our donation box there. Joy hates to see us ignore it and let all the boxes get ripped off. Sage pointed out that the publicity could have been good for he skatepark, as people now know the boxes are out there since Joy wrote a letter to the editor of the UDJ. Joy acknowledges and appreciates that Dina was the impetus behind writing the letter. What does the committee want to do? Would anyone need to go to court? Possibly the storeowner (who doesn’t want to). A motion was made and seconded to file a police report. Discussion: Joy would be willing to take it forward and Sage would assist. Since we know who it is, it’s hard to turn away from it, even though if he were assessed a fine he wouldn’t be able to pay it and it isn’t enough money to warrant jail time. It should be in the paper in the crime reports which we would like to see happen. Justin doesn’t think it will accomplish anything but agrees that there should be consequences. The motion carried unanimously.

The Good News in this situation is that Joanne LaCasse of the Erickson Foundation is making a donation to the Skatepark Committee to cover the loss. We don’t yet know how much that would be, but we estimate it to be about $30.

Joy has been checking the donation boxes but there has not been enough cash yet to collect. The Ukiah Brewery, Ellie’s Mutt Hutt and the Sports Attic are thought to be good spots. Rex volunteered to take boxes around and see if the store owners are interested.

Rex also wants to make an anonymous donation to replace the stolen funds. A follow-up letter to the editor would also be a good idea.

Joy reported that the owner of the Moonlight Framer is donating $1 to the skate park effort for every picture they frame.

REX’S REPORT:
Rex went to Missouri for a reunion, visited a great skate park and took pictures on his digital camera, which are apparently missing. His nephew who lives back there will take the pictures again. This park had 35 parking places, with only one car parked. He was impressed to see steel edging on the cement. No helmets or pads are required, but advisory only.

STATUS UPDATE ON RR PROPERTY SITE (Sage):
Sage says we are waiting on the appraisal Matt was having done on the site. Justin will check with Matt, and prompt him for results. As soon as it is received, the City will take it forward to go to the City Council and the NCRA property committee with a formal proposal. The City Council seems to be unanimously in favor of this site. The price could be an important factor. Work continues on a drawing for the proposal. Joy’s question: If the RR were to become active again, would it make a difference in this as our first choice? Sage says it shouldn’t be a problem in terms of property agreements, even if we don’t purchase the property. This is not a problem in the minds of those present. Fencing would be required regardless of where the skate park is, so the skaters will be protected from railroad activity.

Sage has requested updated REMIF (Redwood Empire Municipal Insurance Fund) insurance guidelines for skate parks.

STATUS UPDATE ON LOW GAP PARK SITE (Sage):
Sage answered the agenda’d question asking if the playground area (west of the tennis courts) was included in the soils report that was done. It was not. If we were to go for that more westerly site, we may or may not need to do another soils report.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT (Justin):

At this meeting were Jim Mulheren, Orion Walker and Justin Capri. Jim brought Jackie McDonough from North Coast Community Radio Group (NCC) into the meeting on Aug. 29, hoping for radio coverage of the upcoming Sept. 27 competition event. Ukiah Custom Cabinets will sponsor the advertising for the event, but no live broadcast will be available for that day from NCC. Public Service Announcements (PSAs) will be done by Jackie.

Jubilee Jumps is providing a bounce house at no charge and perhaps a rock wall that we will need to supervise. Jim volunteered to be part of that supervision team. City Safari Day Camp personnel may be available to do face painting. We could also use dancers, jugglers, henna painters,etc. Joy may have a clown that does face painting—must be willing to pay a booth fee or donate a share of proceeds.

Anyone having contacts for such donations is encouraged to make arrangements. Justin reports that people are getting tired of donating their time for so many years without a skate park yet, and are not so willing to do it again.

Nothing is set in stone yet for bands or food or anything. Rex will do tables & chairs. Need 14 tables if possible. Joy asked if there is interest in having mellower music set off in corners, like guitar. The response was affirmative.

PSA list: Justin needs to know what the committee wants him to say—skate competition, music, etc. The committee gave the okay for Justin to write it up for Jackie. He should give it to Joy and she’ll get it out to the other stations. Sage will take care of the waivers needed. Need raffle items like wine, a skateboard, spa visits, dinners for two, etc. Justin has Northern Lights lined up to do our logo in neon to raffle off or whatever we want to do with it ($800 value). Justin will be having Pennies Trophies do the trophies; they give a discount, Justin recalls it runs about $215. Justin will call Jim to clear up what is planned to be covered by NCC.

Design Subcommittee Report: No meeting has been held yet.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: No meeting has been held yet.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: See above, PR Subcommittee.

Next Meeting:
Friday, September 26, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

Friday, September 26, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Jim Mulheren, Justin Capri (co-VP), Matt Wilson (co-VP), Bob Beltrami (President), Jonathan Whipple, Rex Eiffert, Sage Sangiacomo, Ed Keller, Orion Walker and Carole Aleshire (Secretary).
Thanks to Ukiah Custom Cabinets for pizza!

Additions to agenda: Planning for Saturday competition fundraiser

Approval of Sept. 12 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

PLANNING FOR SATURDAY’S COMPETITION FUNDRAISER: Anyone who can help with Saturday’s event should come down to Alex Thomas Plaza at 8:00 to see what needs to be done. Carole will send out an email to everyone on the Resource List asking for volunteers anytime from 8:00 to 5:00 saying we need all the help we can get from all those folks who have signed up as wanting to help. KWNE will do a live broadcast from the event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Concession: If enough help, we’ll barbecue hot dogs, Italian sausage and hamburgers (if donated by Wendys). Rex volunteered to start the barbecue. We’ll do chili donated by Wendys and nachos and donated sodas and water for $1 each. The jumpy house will be there around 10:30 and will need to be monitored and $1 collected for each child. Proceeds are ours. The competition entry forms are done and the groups will be 9 and under, 10-12, 13-15, 16-17 and 18 & up. The band AFI has signed some items that were to be part of the raffle but it was decided that auctioning them on Ebay will bring more money for the skate park. The raffle has a few items, and tickets will be $1 each or 6/$5. Ukiah Daily Journal will be publishing the results of the competition.

STATUS UPDATE ON RAILROAD PROPERTY SITE: Matt turned over the appraisal for the property to Sage, done for free by Rensen Appraisal. This was the next piece needed and the City will pursue it from there. There will be talks with both our City Council and with the NCRA Property Committee, with the appraisal being a critical piece. Design ideas are not part of the proposal, but rough concepts are needed soon. Matt has done some, will turn them over to Sage so they can be made more presentable by a member of City staff. Down the line, the Design Subcommittee will need to get going, to get ideas from the skaters.

STATUS UPDATE ON LOW GAP PARK SITE: Still our back burner option, nothing else to report.

FUNDRAISING SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT: Joy not present, nothing for Jonathan to report. Rex had volunteered last meeting to take donation boxes around to stores, has done so and turned in his list to Joy. Walmart has 3 and would take more, if there are others out there not taking in much cash. If so, give them to Rex and he’ll take care of it. Safeway has one, Ellie’s Mutt Hutt wasn’t sure about it, Rex will check back. He could probably place 20 more if we had them.

Police report on the box stolen from Coffee Critic—Sage and Joy filed a police report with a police officer but there will be no detective work on it as they are short-staffed. The beat cops will pursue it as appropriate.

We received a $500 donation from the T.R. Ericksen Foundation with a very nice encouraging letter to keep up the good work and not be discouraged by this theft. There was also another $40 donation received to cover this theft.

Jonathan requested that we keep on the agenda the task to assign a subcommittee to do a user survey as discussed at a previous meeting.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT: No meeting held since last committee meeting, but this committee did bring in sponsorship by Ukiah Custom Cabinets for the jumpy house and the advertising campaign and coverage by KWNE. PSAs are out and being aired heavily.

Sage offered to start and keep a database based on the waivers, to send out mailings on future events, etc.

Report of proceeds from August 16 event:
Carole reported that of the $1000 put on account at Friedman Bros. for materials to build up the ramps, $634.12 was spent and $365.88 remains on account.

Of the $500 withdrawn from the bank account for expenses for the Aug. 16 skate jam, $172.84 was spent and $327.16 went back into the account. Raised at the event was $360.44 in concessions, $73.75 in donations and $430 in sign-ups, for a total of $864.19.

Next Meeting:
Friday, October 10, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

Friday, October 10, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Joy Beeler (Treasurer), Bob Beltrami (President), Jonathan Whipple, Orion Walker, Carole Aleshire (Secretary) and Dina Polkinghorne ½ way through.

Approval of Sept. 26 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

STATUS UPDATE ON RAILROAD PROPERTY SITE: No Larry or Sage to report the official update. Joy had some information of interest. She received notice of an upcoming seminar regarding re-use of old abandoned railroad areas and ideas for funding projects. This could be a good networking and funding opportunity. Joy sent it to Candace Horsley, who sent it on to city planner Charlie Stump, and both Candace and Charlie plan on attending. Orion asked where we are with this site. Jonathan recapped that the appraisal was turned in to Sage two weeks ago, and Sage will be getting it to the appropriate people at the City to come up with a proposal for lease/option to be taken to the City Council for their blessing before taking to the NCRA Property Committee. Scheduling of both of these bodies could create delays.

FUNDRAISING SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT:

BOOTH FOR PUMPKINFEST? Justin is away in Hawaii, so the 6 of us present did our best to organize the Skate Park booth for the event. Hours are 10 – 5 and people must be there by 6:30 a.m. Saturday to set up. Joy volunteered to set up the tables the night before so we don’t have to be there so early. Carole will be there at 8 a.m. on Saturday to set up the booth. We understand Sage is working on waivers, so hopefully they will be ready for Saturday morning. We agreed to do a 50/50 raffle instead of hunting up donations of raffle items on such short notice. After much discussion a motion carried that the winner need not be present to win, must put name and phone number of stub and there will be one drawing at 3:00 on Sunday at center stage with the winner taking ½ the money raised on raffle tickets. The tickets will be $1 each or 6/$5. We started a sign-up schedule with 2-hour blocks: 10-12, 12-2, 2-4 and maybe shut down the booth at 4:00 both days unless someone wants to take 4-5. Carole will email the steering committee for sign-ups.

Meeting adjourned without hitting on the other agenda items.

Next Meeting:
Friday, October 24, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named)
(2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

Friday, October 24, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Jim Mulheren, Bob Beltrami (President), Joy Beeler (Treasurer), Matt Wilson (co-VP), Marianne Mulheren, Dina Polkinghorne, Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Jonathan Whipple, Justin Capri (co-VP), Orion Walker, and Sage Sangiacomo.

Thanks to Ukiah Custom Cabinets for pizza!

Approval of October 10 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Financial Report on Pumpkinfest: Joy reported that we raised at the 2-day event: 50/50 Raffle: $100, with $50 going to the winning ticket holder; Signups: $280; Donations Jar: $134.37. Total raised $464.37.

Bob reported that he did a shift at the end of each day and it was pretty quiet but still a few signups.

Bob also reported that on Tuesday, the Parks & Recreation Committee at their meeting made some suggestions for improving on future events:

There was talk about how few people who have signed up to help out responded to the plea for help. It was suggested that we give much more notice in the future, as much notice as we can, and perhaps more people would have the weekend free to help out. Perhaps for future events we should have 2 people signed up for each time slot, with at least one a member of the steering committee so they can answer questions about our activities and status. Another suggestion was to print up a list of FAQs to post on our storyboards. The first questions for the FAQ list are: Where is the park going to be? And When?

STATUS UPDATE ON RAILROAD PROPERTY SITE: Sage reported that the appraisal is being evaluated by City staff, and it should be on the Ukiah City Council agenda for closed session discussion around the 2nd week of November. If that goes well, it should go before the NCRA Property Management Committee (PMC) and negotiations would begin. The next PMC meeting is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 1:00 p.m. at the City Council chambers. If the City Council has dealt with it by then and it gets on the PMC agenda, a show of support at the meeting would be helpful. Often all that's needed is for us to show up and let it be known we're there in support of a skate park and it makes an impression. No need for us to show up at City Council meetings if the discussions are in closed session. If there are open discussions on this topic planned for meetings, Sage or Larry will let Carole know to get the word out.

Joy asked if we thought we should set a timetable for approval of the RR site so it doesn't just go on and on, and perhaps at some point we should make the decision to go ahead with Low Gap instead. Sage suggested we be patient and see how this negotiation goes in the next few weeks before insisting on a timetable.

The November 5 City Council meeting will discuss the pocket park next to our proposed skate park site on Perkins. This is a high priority for the city.

There was another suggestion from the Parks and Recreation Commission, that we try to hook up with the Ukiah Valley Cultural & Recreation Center for a skate park site, but it was pointed out that we tried that a few years ago, and the property is owned by the school district and the space isn't there, and it's not central to town, among other reasons that it didn't happen.

STATUS UPDATE ON LOW GAP PARK SITE: No news.

DESIGN SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT: No meetings have been held yet but Matt and Justin have been working on some rough designs to present to the PMC as Larry had asked. They need to get those designs turned in so it doesn't hold up the PMC presentation. They set a first subcommittee meeting for next Friday (Oct. 31) at noon at Freedom Skate Shop. Members previously signed up are Ed, Sage, Paul, Matt and Justin. They hope to get more skaters involved.

FUNDRAISING SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT:
Jonathan reported on the skate park user survey project. He has 2 schools on board so far, both limiting the survey to a booth for accessing at breaks and lunch. We need to set a date to let the schools announce it in advance and we need to identify students to cover the booth at each school. Jonathan was working on the high school, South Valley, Eagle Peak, Pomalita and Oak Manor's 6th grade. Redwood Academy is another suggestion, and there was some thought that we should go younger than 6th grade to get good response. Jonathan will contact more schools and ask if there is a down time in classroom activity so it could be done in the classroom, if there is an assembly where we could have a booth, and if they can broadcast it over the PA system. It was also suggested that he contact the school district, a specific person whose name Sage will give Jonathan, to see if this project can get the district's backing and make it more acceptable to the schools. We'll try to set a date for getting the surveys in the schools at our next meeting on Nov. 14.

Meeting adjourned without hitting on the other agenda items.

Next Meeting: Friday, November 14, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named) (2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

Friday, November 14, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Bob Beltrami (President), Lindy Dunaway, Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Matt Wilson (co-VP), Orion Walker, Justin Capri (co-VP), Sage Sangiacomo and (later) Joy Beeler (Treasurer)

Lindy Dunaway joins us today for the first time, ready to do anything she can to help with the effort, and wanting to be put on any and all subcommittees. She would like to help with data entry when the results of the survey come in, among other things. Welcome, Lindy!

Approval of October 24 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

When there appeared to be nobody coming from the City, we moved on past the site status updates.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report: Jonathan and Orion got together last week to go over the survey, looking at some changes to a few questions. Jonathan is moving ahead with the schools, setting up dates to put the surveys at tables in the schools to be completed at school breaks. Questions begging change were discussed and agreed as follows by those present:

Carole will make these changes and bring the modified survey to the next meeting. Also will be attached along with these minutes to email to the committee and supporters.

STATUS UPDATE ON RAILROAD PROPERTY SITE: Sage reported that the issue of beginning negotiations with NCRA property committee went to the City Council in closed session and was approved. Sage believes negotiations will proceed with the property committee at its meeting on Nov. 18. The committee can make a recommendation to the full NCRA board and the full board has the power to make the ultimate decision. The pocket park at the site went to the last council meeting and was passed in concept and for funding from redevelopment agency funds.

STATUS UPDATE ON LOW GAP PARK SITE: No news.

MORE FUNDRAISING DISCUSSION: Justin reported that he has been having discussions with Ken Fowler, who wants to do a campaign to donate a portion of the sale of each vehicle to the skate park effort for a period of time. Sounds great!

DESIGN SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT: There have been no formal meetings yet, but as a concept sketch had been requested for when the issue is taken to NCRA property committee, Matt brought what he had worked up, with the help of some of his skater friends. It is a drawing of how the park could fit into the area with the pocket park and the railroad tracks and depot depicted. It includes some rough ideas of elements to be included, including some street elements like benches and rails to be modeled after the features around town that tend to be used by skaters and thereby trashed. The intent is to get skaters to leave those other properties alone when we have the park for them to use instead. Sage will have it conceptualized by a city planner. He will let Matt and Justin know when that will happen so they can help translate the drawing and their ideas.

SKATE EVENTS SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT: Willits' skate event got cancelled. They have no force to run an event now that they have basically raised all the money they need and the larger committee has disbanded. Their park is delayed from the projected completion of about now, because after they awarded the bid, that contractor came back and asked for more money. Rather than have to go back out and raise more money, the committee declined and will select another bidder and look at next summer for completion. This can serve as a warning to our committee, something to watch out for.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Joy arrived at this point, and reported a little more on Fundraising activities. Until there is a site, there's not much to do other than manage the donation boxes, which are coming in pretty well for the most part. After the front-page article in the Journal, Joy noticed the donations picked up for a time. Good to see the instant impact of the publicity. There are 50 boxes out and to Joy's knowledge they are all out in stores except for one which she will give to Justin. She hasn't received reports for where committee members placed all of them, but responds accordingly when she receives calls that the boxes need to be emptied.

Joy hopes that once we have a site (maybe soon!) we can put on a kick-off dinner and auction, with skaters as waiters, or Bob suggested our committee could do it and include Parks and Rec people and city officials as additional waiters and servers.

Next meeting was scheduled for November 28, but being the day after Thanksgiving, we'll skip it and hold off until the second Friday in December, the 12th.

Next Meeting: Friday, December 12, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center (meeting room yet to be named) (2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda:

Friday, December 12, 2003

The meeting was held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center at noon. Present were Joy Beeler (Treasurer), Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Ed Keller, Sage Sangiacomo, Larry DeKnoblough, Orion Walker, and Jim Mulheren.

Approval of November 14 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Status Update on Railroad Property Site (Larry and Sage): Larry, Sage and Paul met with the NCRA Property Committee for the second time, this time with a specific proposal approved by City Council, based on the appraisal supplied by Matt. The committee struggled with the issue and the best outcome was a recommendation that the proposal go back to the City for an engineering master plan for the entire railroad property, showing how the skate park would fit in. After that meeting, Larry received a call from the NCRA Board of Directors requesting that the offer be submitted directly to the Board rather than through the Property Committee. That is scheduled for December 18 in Healdsburg, if Larry's memory was correct. Our hope is that the Board will accept the proposal in concept and be prepared to negotiate on the price. There is a requirement that because federal funds were originally used for the purchase of the property through the National Transportation Board, any sale of the property must benefit the public. We can certainly show public benefit as funds from the sale to the City would go back into the railroad, and the purpose of the property purchase is for a public park. We know at least some of the Board members are in favor of the project, but this negotiating could take some time. The question was raised, would the 17-year escrow we're told the property is in, as purchased by NCRA, affect this purchase in any way. Larry said that if need be, we could request that our escrow close when that escrow closes, and it shouldn't be a problem.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site (Larry and Sage): No action on this front, with all the energy going toward the Railroad property site.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Joy, Orion): Joy reported her progress in opening a checking account at Savings Bank. She is filling out the paperwork for a tax id number for our committee, and will be contacting the officers as needed to sign papers. The Savings Bank wants our account and they have a coin counter, which will save Joy lots of time counting the proceeds from the donation boxes. She had nothing else to report, as there have been no meetings of the subcommittee.

Orion reported that he and Jonathan are on hold with putting the surveys in the schools, letting the holidays take precedence. They'll start up again after the first of the year. Not a big rush to get the surveys at this point. Last meeting minutes had us scheduled for today to review the changes made to the survey, but we didn't get to that. Will agenda for next meeting.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT: Nothing to report.

DESIGN SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT: Nobody was there to report. The City has some conceptual designs turned in by Matt, ready to use when we can take the next step. Larry reported that the spur tracks may or may not be removed. If they remain it would impact the design. If they pull them out we would have no design obstacles that we know of.

SKATE EVENTS SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT: Nobody present to report, but no events are planned for the season.

Larry offered the option of moving our meetings back over to City Hall now that the new building is complete. There is a nice meeting room we can use in the new building, at 411 W. Clay. Enter the parking lot on Clay, parking is easy and the conference room is right near that entrance.

Next meeting, as the 4th Friday, would fall the day after Christmas. We agreed to skip that meeting and make the next meeting the 2nd Friday of January, on the 9th, at 411 W. Clay.

Next Meeting: Friday, January 9, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the new City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay (2nd and 4th Fridays of each month)

Next Agenda: