The meeting was held at City Hall’s new Meeting Room (411 W. Clay) at noon. Present were Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Orion Walker, Larry DeKnoblough, George Phelan and Marianne Mulheren.

There being only three of us as we began the meeting, the meeting was not facilitated and the agenda was not followed.

Approval of December 12 meeting minutes: Not addressed; Will need to address this issue at Jan. 23 meeting.

Status Update on Railroad Property Site (Larry):
Larry attended the Dec. 18 NCRA board meeting to present Ukiah City Council’s proposal to purchase a portion of the property at the depot off Perkins St. for building a skate park. Larry received formal notice today that the NCRA board voted against selling, but will not rule out a lease. They have left it to the City to make a proposal. City Manager Candace Horsley is willing to talk preliminary details with NCRA before going to the city council, then Larry will prepare a proposal for a lease with option to purchase, take it to the City Council for their approval, then present the proposal to NCRA and hopefully start negotiations.
This could be quicker for us than a purchase, as clearances could have taken longer than a lease. Terms will need to be negotiated with NCRA. In order to establish a lease value, they need to arrive at a purchase price, which would be based on bare ground, minimum of 1 acre, based on the appraisal we have, which was not disputed by the NCRA board. The lease would encumber funds for the life of the lease to avoid budgetary problems in the future, in the form of a trust account to be created from the proceeds of the sale of the North Fire Station. Monday Larry will go over a formal response with Candace and send it to NCRA next week, to prepare for a formal proposal for the City Council to consider. This will be a closed session item for City Council.
The pocket park is also owned by NCRA but the city has an encroachment permit to do the landscaping for the area, covering insurance for park users.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site:
This site is still on the back burner, but Orion points out we should keep it on our minds in case the RR property doesn’t work out. He suggests we might want to continue looking at the possibility of taking out a tennis court to make more room. Someone has suggested to Larry that they might consider moving one of the tennis courts over next to the Playhouse to provide a buffer, placing the skate park farther away from the Playhouse. We should know within 2-3 months for certain whether or not we have RR property. If not, we’ll need to move forward aggressively on this site and work through the obstacles.

Other Discussion:
There was talk about another site on Leslie Street that butts up against the back of the RR parcel we are interested in. The Leslie St. site could be available for purchase but it needs cleanup of contamination from when coal was converted to gas there years ago. If the City were burdened with cleaning up of the toxics, and it was necessary to dig down 5 feet or so, what better time to build a cement bowl for skating, rather than having to dig out for the bowl? Some ideas about this were bandied about and Larry will broach it as a possibility in his discussions with Candace this week.
If the RR property were to fall through, we would need to think about which would be our next option, Low Gap Park or Leslie St. Perhaps by the time we know more from NCRA, some information could be gathered about both Leslie St. and the option of moving a tennis court at Low Gap Park.
Carole shared that she attended an excellent workshop this week on grant writing, and though it appears that the City of Ukiah will need to be the entity applying for the grants since we decided not to form a 501(c)3 non profit corporation, Carole would welcome the opportunity to use the newly gained skills to help City staff with any grant applications. Also, unforeseen grant sources could surface from the material gained at the workshop.
The rest of the items were not discussed due to lack of representatives:

Fundraising Subcommittee Report: None
Public Relations Subcommittee Report: None
Design Subcommittee Report: None
Skate Events Subcommittee Report: None

Next Meeting:
Friday, January 23, 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:

The meeting was held at City Hall’s new Meeting Room (411 W. Clay) at noon. Present were Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Bob Beltrami (President) and Sage Sangiacomo. George Phelan came just before we adjourned the very short meeting, and Joy Beeler came right after.

With so few participants, we skipped most of the agenda and only covered those areas those present could address.

Approval of January 23 meeting minutes: Not addressed.

Status Update on Railroad Property Site (Sage): Larry was given direction after closed session discussion at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. The City is now in active negotiations with NCRA, presumably negotiating terms for leasing the property. It was reported that there was a newspaper article a couple of days ago about this site.
Work on the depot park is scheduled to begin on March 1 with CCC (California Conservation Corps) and city crews.

Status Update on potential new site on Leslie St. (Sage): Unknown at this point, possibly still tied in with the RR property discussions.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site (Sage): Nothing to report.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report: Sage heard from Rex, who apologized for missing today’s meeting, but sent the information that he has contacted some of the schools requesting permission to distribute the skater survey at the schools rather than being limited to having a survey table on campus at break times. Pomolita, Ukiah High and Nokomis have approved the distribution of surveys, and a decision from Eagle Peak is pending.
The rest of the items were not discussed due to lack of representatives:
Public Relations Subcommittee Report
Design Subcommittee Report
Documentation Subcommittee Report
Skate Events Subcommittee Report

Next Meeting:
Friday, February 27, 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:

The meeting was held at City Hall’s new Meeting Room (411 W. Clay) at noon. Present were Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Bob Beltrami (President), Jim Mulheren, Joy Beeler (Treasurer), Rex Eiffert, George Phelan, Sage Sangiacomo, and community member Scott Spears.

Approval of January 23 & February 13 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Status Update on Railroad Property Site (Sage): In active negotiations for about 3 weeks now. City Council has been meeting in closed session, so the status is unknown. Jim asked if funds from the sale of the north fire station, some of which were to be set aside for purchase of a skate park site, would be available for building the skatepark if this site is obtained on a lease basis. Sage doesn’t know. It was mused that once we show a good start at raising money on our own, the council may be inclined to pitch in if fiscal constraints don’t prevent it.

Hopefully there will be something to report on this site at the next meeting. Sage will let Larry know we hope for that.

Status Update on potential new site on Leslie St. (Sage): Unknown at this point, still thought to be tied in with the RR property discussions.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site (Sage): City staff are meeting with Steve Turner, UUSD Buildings and Grounds, regarding the opening of the high school tennis courts to the public. There is work being done on the courts at the high school for drainage. If the school courts were open to the public it could be possible to eliminate one court from the Low Gap Park site to make more space for a skate park farther west, away from the Playhouse. This remains our second choice of a site for the skate park, in case the Railroad site doesn’t work out.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report: No meetings have occurred, but Joy has obtained a federal tax id #, which will allow her to open a checking account at the Savings Bank. The account will require 2 signatures on checks but we must sign a waiver holding the bank harmless if a check slips by without the required 2 signatures. Signers will be Joy, Bob and Carole and the account will hopefully be opened today. Then the balance from the Mendo-Lake Credit Union account will be moved to the new account. The tax id cost $12, and the initial deposit will be about $300, from the donation boxes. Bob and Joy signed a letter of authorization to open the checking account and designating the signers.

On the subject of donation boxes, Jim noticed that the Executive Barber Shop’s box is overflowing. Joy hasn’t received a call on it, as apparently many locations don’t realize that Joy’s phone number to call to empty the boxes is posted on the boxes. Joy covers the core downtown stores, but hasn’t been told where all the boxes are placed and doesn’t have time to cover all of them. Bob, Rex and Jim are all willing to make the rounds if Joy will make up a list and divvy them up so each has a route to cover. Jim thinks once we have a site, especially, it will be beneficial to go around and update our supporters in these stores on the status of the skate park.
Jim announced that the Chamber of Commerce will be inserting with their annual dues letter an opportunity for members to donate an extra $20 to the skate park. Carole will write a letter of thanks to the Chamber.
Rex shared the news that he has been working on having our survey distributed at schools with some success. He has called all the schools but one or two. He has a list of schools and the number of surveys needed for each. We’ll need the survey also in Spanish. Nuestra Casa does translation (about $50 perhaps), or maybe a college student could do it. Carole will send the current (updated) survey to Joy to get it translated, then to the school district office for approval. The City will probably be able to do the copying.

More Discussion:
Joy suggested maybe we want to go into fund raising in a big way and purchase a piece of property for ourselves. The northwest corner of Orchard & Perkins was mentioned. How about outside of city limits? Other properties have been brought forth, park issues can be reexamined, Vinewood could still be viable (per Sage & Larry). Any site should be considered at any point, even if we are close to getting another site. How about the Fairgrounds? State property, half in & half out of city limits. Maybe the Brush Street area since the Orchard bridge is going in, but development could take way too long. Do we want to set a time frame for how long to wait before we move on to another site? We do still have the Low Gap site, with problems to work out if it becomes our first choice again.

How about the old Masonite parking lot? A non-profit could be formed and labor donated as in-kind, where the Mendocino Foundation wouldn’t be able to handle in-kind donations. Scott will look into the possibilities for accepting volunteer labor, i.e. Habitat for Humanity. The issue would be the liability insurance. Perhaps we should just create a non-profit and go for it. Volunteer labor can be the downfall for a skatepark, as they aren’t easy to build, any errors would be permanent, could be a disaster. We need to be careful about how we use donated labor.
Scott used to own Zimolini’s in Hopland, and still has the use of the name. He would like to use the name to do fundraisers, perhaps at the Fairgrounds, or maybe at the Conference Center. He will get together with Joy to discuss the possibilities.
Public Relations Subcommittee Report:
Nothing to report

Design Subcommittee Report:
Nothing to report

Documentation Subcommittee Report:
Nothing to report

Skate Events Subcommittee Report:
Nothing to report

Next Meeting:
Friday, March 12, 2004, 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:

Next Agenda:

The meeting was held at City Hall’s new Meeting Room (411 W. Clay) at noon. Present were Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Orion Walker, Jim Mulheren, Joy Beeler (Treasurer), Sage Sangiacomo, Ed Keller, Paul Andersen (City Council rep), and Dina Polkinghorne.

Approval of March 12 meeting minutes: On page 2, Fort Street was changed to Ford Road, where an empty lot was suggested as a potential site. Minutes approved with that change. Carole will email the minutes with this change to Marianne for posting to the website.

Status Update on Railroad Property/Leslie St. Site (Sage): Still in negotiations so no update. There was discussion in closed session of the City Council giving direction to city staff, and that direction is being followed.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site (Sage): City staff have met with Steve Turner of Ukiah Unified School District Buildings & Grounds regarding the UkiaHi tennis courts drainage project, and are still hoping for the Ukiahi tennis courts to be opened for use by the public. If so, we could potentially remove one or both of the courts at Low Gap Park, making room for the skate park farther west of the Playhouse to avoid noise problems. City staff are waiting for a response with a time proposal for the drainage project, probably August or so. Joy visited the site at Low Gap and thought it looked too small. Sage has site drawings with allowance for 15,000-20,000 sq. ft. of park. It is not expected that we would need to reserve space for parking, with the Ukiah Players and Low Gap Regional Park parking right there. Paul and Sage see it as more than sufficient, as did the Wormhoudt skatepark designer group when they visited the site. Sage offered to send the drawings to Joy.

Frustration was expressed as to the time it’s taking to get any closer to a site. The best news we’ve had lately is that the City Council held a priority workshop, with the skate park coming out the top priority. Dina asked if there has been any change of focus as to the site, from NCRA property being the top choice. Paul and Sage said no. Dina, representing NCRA, stated that they have not received any proposal from the City other than the original one to purchase the property. It’s frustrating to not see any progress made, but as any negotiations on the NCRA site remain in closed session of City Council, any progress cannot be shared. Paul said he will strive to bring us more news with less ambiguity at the next meeting.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Joy): No subcommittee meetings have been held.

Joy asked Sage for a progress report on the surveys for schools, and Sage said copying is being done now and distribution to the schools is expected next week. Joy gave Sage a copy of a communication from Rex about contacts he has made with schools officials about the survey.

Joy handed out a balance sheet (assets of $12,535.29 in checking account, zero liabilities) and profit and loss statement developed from the history she has of the checking account for the period 9/30/01 through 3/16/04. The bottom line is a profit of $10,423.39 for that period. Also included is a project report for the donation boxes showing $1,292.13 income less $367.83 in the cost of the boxes for a profit to date of $924.30.

Public Relations Subcommittee Report: No report

Design Subcommittee Report: No report.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: No report.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: No report.

It was suggested that we need to beef up these subcommittees and get work progressing rather than wait until we have a site to start activities. Carole will work up sign-up sheets for each committee including those who previously signed up for them, and send out a plea to get involved, to folks who have previously expressed interest.

Meeting Schedule (added to agenda) (Sage): Sage announced that the City of Ukiah is cutting back their hours in the tight budget times, to close every other Friday except when it would follow a regular holiday (like Thanksgiving) which would make too long a period for offices to be closed. Offices will be open Monday-Thursday 7:30 – 5:30 and every other Friday 8:00 – 5:00. April 9 is the first Friday they will be closed, and was our next scheduled meeting. Different options were discussed. It was decided that we do need to continue meeting at least twice a month rather than going back to monthly. Motion was made and seconded to start April 16 meeting every other Friday (from noon to 1 p.m.), with the next meeting after that April 30. Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 12:30.

Next Meeting:
Friday, April 16, 2004, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the new City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay (every other Friday)

Next Agenda:

The meeting was held at City Hall’s new Meeting Room (411 W. Clay) at noon. Present were Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Bob Beltrami (President), Justin Capri (co-Vice President), Rex Eiffert, Lindy Dunaway, Paul Anderson (City Council rep), Larry DeKnoblough, Ed Keller, Matt Wilson (co-Vice President), George Phelan and Sage Sanciacomo (at 12:25)

Additions to the Agenda:
Larry thanked us for the flexibility to change the meetings to every other Fridays. Now he should be able to make every meeting. Appreciation was expressed for the availability of the meeting room.

Approval of March 26 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Status Update on Railroad Property/Leslie St. Site (Larry): Proposal has been sent to NCRA, and the timing is pretty good, because their next board meeting is April 21, same as the City Council. Larry hopes for an update from Dina (maybe acceptance or counter-offer) after their closed session but in time to give input to the City Council, also in closed session. It’s possible that we may hear something after the two meetings on the 21st. It was suggested that if there is more negotiating to be done, perhaps a subcommittee of 2 councilmembers could meet with the NCRA Property Committee to speed things up.
Status Update on Low Gap Park Site (Larry): We have the engineering study already done, so if we were to shift over to this site again, we could pick up where we left off, negotiate with neighbors and work on addressing their concerns. Moving the tennis courts may still be a possibility.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Justin): No subcommittee meetings have been held recently. Justin’s next project is to be the Ebay sales of AFI merchandise & memorabilia for our benefit. The AFI show is postponed, not cancelled. Don’t know how much it will net, but it should be significant. As soon as we have a site, we want to have an event at the site for a big kickoff. May 15 is a demo for the Willits skatepark, groundbreaking demo day. The 22nd may be the actual groundbreaking, though a contractor (second time around) hasn’t been selected yet. There was a contractors’ meeting yesterday, communicating the criteria the contractors have to meet. There is a bid meeting is next week, Thursday at Willits City Hall, time unknown. Larry may go to get a handle on who the bidders are. We will need to require experience building parks when we get to that point, to avoid costly mistakes.

Public Relations Subcommittee Report: No report.

Design Subcommittee Report: No meetings have been held. See above, under fundraising. Dave McBride came to town and looked at the sites we’re considering. He works with all the companies that build parks. He’s around 40 and still an active boarder.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: No report. Matt, as head of this subcommittee, will call a meeting soon.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: No meetings have been held. See above, under fundraising.

May 1 is the Cinco de Mayo event, noon to 8 p.m. Any chance of a new spot for the skatejam? If the normal parking lot is all we’ve got, it will be okay, but the surface is getting choppy. Larry and Sage wondered if the skatejam was included in the planning, as they (the City) are sponsors but not organizers. Justin will talk to Maria to find out if we’re scheduled. We don’t want the skaters of Ukiah to think we’ve given up on a skate park. Gordon Burke at Ukiah Adult School 463-5217 is the contact Rex has for 7-10 tables if needed for Cinco de Mayo—Rex will be out of town cruisin’.

Sage and Larry had an idea for a combining of the competition in late summer and the Pumpkinfest so efforts can be combined. Maybe have the competition on a side street with its own music, own ambiance. Could be a possibility. Maybe another parking lot like the Civic Center parking lot would work.

Progress Report / Sign-up Sheets for Subcommittees: We passed around a sign-up sheet for each subcommittee. We need to designate a chair for each subcommittee or else meetings won’t be organized. We noted those chairs we knew.

Other Discussion: Ed talked to the property manager of the property behind Raleys on Ford Rd (Pan Pacific Properties)—it’s not for sale. They may get back to Ed on the possibility of leasing, but haven’t so far.

Next Meeting:
Friday, April 30, 2004, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the new City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay (every other Friday)

Next Agenda:

The meeting was held at City Hall’s new Meeting Room (411 W. Clay) at noon. Present were Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Bob Beltrami (President), Joy Beeler (Treasurer), Larry DeKnoblough, Ed Keller, Sage Sanciacomo and Lindy Dunaway.

Approval of April 16 meeting minutes: There was a change to the last paragraph in that the party contacted by Ed about the property on Ford Road was the property manager Pan Pacific Properties, not the owner. Minutes were approved with this change.

Status Update on Railroad Property/Leslie St. Site (Larry): Larry reported that negotiations are stalemated. It’s pretty clear NCRA doesn’t see the skate park as a priority. We’ve been up against a public body that doesn’t have the same agenda as we do. The body includes people from other areas interested in the railroad. First the City was told they didn’t want to sell, so the City submitted a proposal for lease, but in response, they wanted the City to pay for another appraisal from an appraiser of their choosing. The City can’t afford to spend more money to chase this one when we already have property available to put the park (see next topic). Larry expressed many thanks to Dina who is a great advocate for the skate park and brought this site to the table. We had all been excited at the prospect of building it in such a visible spot close to downtown that needed the positive appearance and activity it would have provided there.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site (Larry): City Council in closed session recently gave direction to Larry to make a recommendation to the Council that they designate Low Gap Park as the site for the skate park. It is on the agenda for this Wednesday night, May 5, starting at 6:30. It will be under the topic of Unfinished Business so it should be early in the meeting. Larry and Sage have prepared a staff report to provide this recommendation to Council. They expect it will be accepted and go forward. The playground has recently been upgraded and they are still looking at the possibility of moving or eradicating the tennis courts, but moving them would be quite expensive. If the recommendation is accepted by the Council on Wednesday then we’ll start on a conceptual design for the site.
Might we see some financial assistance from the city to build the park now that land acquisition is not an issue? Larry doesn’t see that happening, with the priorities before the city in the current tight budget. The City will help with grants, most likely to be granted to finish the park rather than to start it. It has always been planned that we will do a major fundraising effort to raise funds to build the park once we have a site. County park bond funds could be available and it was pointed out that we need the support of the County in this effort in addition to the City.

Carole will send out an email notice to all skate park supporters announcing this City Council agenda item, and Larry will call the Ukiah Players and Ukiah High School. We recognize there are still objections from these two groups and we want to work things out to a positive end. The staff report covers the fact that sound issues as usually perceived as worse than they actually are. Napa has a park close to a theater and they don’t have any issues, and other parks are close to residential areas with no problems.
Fundraising Subcommittee Report: No Report, but Joy passed out financial statements showing $481.39 in income from the donation boxes (currently needing to be emptied) and $100 in other donations for the period of Jan. 1 – April 30 and expenses of $25 for the same period. The Balance Sheet shows $12,595.29 in our bank account with no liabilities.

Public Relations Subcommittee Report: No report.

Design Subcommittee Report: No report.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: No report.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: No report.

Progress Report / Sign-up Sheets for Subcommittees: In order to make sure the subcommittees get going on their tasks, they all need to have chairs to call meetings and report back to the full committee. We’ll put on the next agenda to appoint a chair for each subcommittee or firm up those already in place.
Meeting adjourned at 12:35.

Next Meeting:
Friday, May 14, 2004, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the new City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay (every other Friday)

Next Agenda:

The meeting was held at City Hall’s new Meeting Room (411 W. Clay) at noon.
Present were Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Bob Beltrami (President), Lisa Mammina, Kate Magruder and Gary Hudson from Ukiah Players Theater, Ed Keller, Randall Feare, Larry Deknoblough, Sage Sangiacomo and Dina Polkinghorne.

Additions to Agenda: Table at Space’s event May 22 at the High School Cafetorium

Approval of April 30 meeting minutes: Accepted without change.

Status Update on Low Gap Park Site: Is it official? (Larry): This site is on hold pending reinstated negotiations with NCRA for the RR site.

Discussion about Sites: Larry shared that City Council has directed him to submit a revised proposal to NCRA, which has been done. Discussion is on the May 19 agenda for NCRA in closed and open session, as well the City Council agenda that same evening, also on for closed and open session. Larry will be at the NCRA meeting, where everything will hopefully get hammered out. If not, then they’ll keep at it until it is hammered out. The Council wants to go as far as possible with this site because there are no obstacles. NCRA has had a change on the board.
There was discussion about why the site is being bounced back and forth again. Some committee members are feeling that we’re not in control, at the whim of assistance from other local groups, agencies, etc. NCRA meets only once a month, and timing became a problem. NCRA is not really opposed to the skatepark, but may have issues about letting go control of the land. The outlook is optimistic to work through the details to a successful agreement. NCRA supports other local municipal activities as in the City of Eureka. Two public agencies working together have a lot of issues to work through. Larry brought up for newcomers our 8 (or is it 7?) year history that brings frustration every step of the way with the NIMBY factor everywhere. Concern was raised over a lack of a general plan or thought for development of the NCRA parcel.
The Council is asking that, if there is contention about a site, let’s exhaust every effort before confronting that contention. Gary pointed out that siting the skate park at Low Gap is not in the best interest in either group. Although the County hasn’t officially weighed in on location of the skate park, Gary said that the county General Services director was strong that if there was opposition by Ukiah Players or Ukiah High School, he would urge the county to oppose it. Gary said we these are incompatible uses of a small area, a theater requiring a silent environment and kids needing to express themselves freely. UHS has issues of supervision of students not on campus, and their liability for kids even if off campus.
Larry asks the committee to give the City the time to make one last effort with NCRA, as he thinks they’re close to getting it ironed out. If that fails, we’ll revisit everything, sit down with UPT and UHS. He requests that we focus on staying positive. UPT is aware that kids skating, their parents and this committee contain supporters of UPT. UPT will be more supportive in fundraising efforts if we hold off and let it go for now, give Larry some time. After the 19th we’ll know better. Both bodies meeting that day have put this topic on both open and closed session so they can take action if needed. It could take another meeting to work out the details but Larry asks that we give him the chance. It is a very detailed proposal, and NCRA will be looking at all the details. Larry’s point has been to make this part of a larger park scene to make it work. Dina said if the committee wants to submit something to the NCRA board to be read in open session, she’ll take it forward.
Frustration was expressed about the Council backing off from their decision (as reported at the April 30 meeting) to pursue Low Gap Park for our site when the opposition of UPT heated up. Kate talked about the incompatible uses of theater and skateboarding right next to each other. Jonathan has been their emissary, but couldn’t make it for the past few weeks due to another commitment. Kate was personally stunned when she heard it was to be on the Council meeting agenda, and feels that to handicap an arts group that is just scraping by just isn’t right. Bob pointed out that the skatepark across from Piner High in Santa Rosa is quiet enough to video with microphone to demonstrate the quiet to be heard. Larry pointed out that UPT didn’t stop the effort, it was the Council’s decision to explore more with NCRA before going back to Low Gap.
Is there any way to speed up the process with NCRA? Could be that both parties agree to do it May 19, with issues to be worked out. We’re asked to hang tight and let the process go through the discussions. We all feel jerked around including Larry. This is a difficult project to sell to the community and we need to keep alliances and friendships alive. We’ve been honorable in doing that for 8 years. Six weeks after May 19 meeting may be how long it takes to get this settled.
Bob mentioned that Jonathan suggested that we talk to realtor Jim Creland, to act as a helpful mediator if needed on the NCRA site. Larry says if needed after the 19th, we’ll look at it. Gary says UPT is very willing to help with fundraising and using their site for shows, films, etc. UPT went through a similar painful birth as we are.
Larry will email the committee after the 19th meetings with as much information as he can.

Shall We Set Up a Table at SPACE’s Teen Festival on May 22? Laurel had suggested we are welcome to set up a table at the festival, scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. at the UkiaHi Cafetorium. They expect around 850 in attendance. Randall said that he staffed the table last year with Mimine, and it was very effective, with people signed up wanting to join the committee. Any volunteers to staff the table? Dina may be able to do it. Carole will email out this item and ask people to respond to Larry, and he’ll coordinate it. If there’s not enough interest, we won’t do it. It was pointed out that the frustration level present in the group makes it difficult to put across a positive message, when people ask where the site will be, as they always do.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report: No Report

Public Relations Subcommittee Report: No report.

Design Subcommittee Report: No report.

Documentation Subcommittee Report: No report.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: No report.

Assign/confirm chair for each subcommittee: We didn’t get to this item.

It was suggested that for future agenda, rather than list each site separately, we just have the general topic of status update on sites.

The discussion about sites took the entire meeting and we adjourned at 1:00 p.m.

Next Meeting:
Friday, May 28, 2004, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the new City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay (every other Friday)

Next Agenda:

The meeting was held at City Hall’s new Meeting Room (411 W. Clay) at noon.
Present were Carole Aleshire (Secretary), Lisa Mammina, Paul Andersen, Jim Mulheren, Marianne Mulheren, Kate Magruder from Ukiah Players Theater, Ed Keller, Sage Sangiacomo, Rex Eiffert, Orion Walker and Joy Beeler.

Approval of May 14 meeting minutes: Accepted without change.

Status Update on Potential Sites (Sage): Sage passed out the agenda summary calling for approval of the lease for Railroad Depot property at the City Council meeting scheduled for June 2. The lease was accepted in concept on May 19 by both NCRA and the City Council. The proposed lease is for 20 years with an option for a 2nd 20-year term, at $300/month with the option to buy if NCRA decides down the line they want to sell. No sticking points are known.

Previous talk about annexing a parcel fronting on Leslie St. is still under preliminary discussion, as a potential addition to make the area look nice but does not impact this site. The location of the skate park within the site has shifted slightly to the east, toward Leslie. Access will be from Perkins with parking right next to the mini park.
The question about funds held out from the sale of the North Fire Station for purchase of a site for skate park was raised. Would it be available to help build the park? There has never been a commitment by the City to provide funds for building the park. Prior to any commitment of funds from the City, the committee would have to demonstrate the ability to raise funds from within the community. As financial times change, it is unknown if that money would be available down the line if NCRA wants to sell the property to the City. Fundraising efforts will initially be to build a park, perhaps in the future to make improvements.
The item will be on the agenda for Wednesday night with the meeting starting at 6:30 and this item to follow closely after. It would be good to have a good show of support from the skating and support community, not so much to talk as to show strong support. Carole will send out an email to the whole Resource List asking for people to come to the meeting.
The real work of this committee is yet to come in fundraising. We may be looking at ¾ of a million dollars needing to be raised. It’s possible if we come up short toward the end, the City could help, but they will be helping as possible with grants, with the research already begun.
One of the original criteria of the Site Selection Committee was to have multigenerational activities in the immediate area around the skate park, so hopefully this will be an aim of the City in developing this area. A bridge across the creek to connect the pocket park with the skate park area would be the first effort in this direction, and the skate park design subcommittee should be involved in this planning. The parcel is about an acre in area.
As the negotiations with NCRA appeared to stall a few weeks ago, District Supervisor Shoemaker was called about the Low Gap site. He asked about the Railroad Depot site, was told the status, then made some calls and apparently got things unstuck. It was acknowledged that new membership on the NCRA board helped too. Thanks to everyone involved in making this happen!

Carole shared an email she received in response to the email forwarding Larry’s good news to the group announcing that both NCRA and Ukiah City Council had agreed as to concept to the proposed lease. Doug Browe emailed: “Great job to all involved…the good work you do for our youthis great work for the whole city of Ukiah. Thank you all!!! With true respect, Doug Browe”

Link on Website to Willits Skatepark News Article? (Marianne): Dina had emailed the group a link to an article about how Willits has kicked in the last money needed to get their skate park built. Marianne was wondering if it would be desired to have that link on our website. Now Marianne is thinking that once the City Council approves the lease, we could put a headline on our website, perhaps with a picture, hopefully with a sign: “Future Home of Ukiah Skate Park”, maybe with a fundraising thermometer. The group approved both proposals. Marianne will write up something and bring it to the next meeting. She offers that she could also create links to pertinent sections of the minutes.
Regarding the sign, Sage suggested that once the pocket park (Depot Park) is completed (within 3-4 weeks), we could perhaps modify that sign for the skate park since it was somewhat pricey. For the time being, Orion will talk to Justin and see if there are kids available to create a temporary sign. Ed’s son Tobin may be available to help too. It was suggested that the sign not be too informal, as we want to make a good impression.

Assign/confirm chair for each subcommittee: This item moved up on the agenda to cover the subcommittees not yet fully formed. Today the subcommittees were not well represented so we couldn’t really address this issue, although we did establish that, although Jim has tried to get the Public Relations Subcommittee going, he doesn’t have the time to chair it. Paul and Sage will work together to come up with a date for the Design Subcommittee to meet. We decided to put out the lists and request sign-ups at the City Council meeting on Wednesday. Carole will prepare this. There is display area available for us out front, where we can put out pledge forms and a Resource List for sign-ups too. Sage will work on updating the story boards with some of Peter Armstrong’s pictures, some material from the website and Justin’s posters. Orion will pick up the storyboards from Justin today and drop them off for Sage. For a picture of the Depot site, Sage has a picture of the Depot Park looking back toward the site for the skate park that will probably work. He will email that to Marianne for the website.

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (Joy): There has been no meeting, but Joy reported that several more donation boxes have come up missing. She has some money to put in the bank but no deposits have been made nor money spent since the last meeting. The Ukiah Chamber of Commerce is making progress on donations to the skate park from their membership renewal drive, and they hope to raise $5000. Joy hasn’t set a meeting yet as she wants to see more participation. It is predicted that the once the news breaks that we have a site, the interest will increase. Next meeting of the subcommittee is set for June 11, 11:00 in this same meeting room at 411 W. Clay, immediately preceding the next full committee meeting. Kate Magruder wants her name added as a member of this subcommittee.
Kate would like to have pledge forms available for visitors to the Ukiah Players Theater lobby.

Orion asked about the survey. Sage says it is currently going out to all schools with one change suggested in a comment from Oak Manor School, to include spectators at the top (along with a skater or parent) rather than at the bottom, so spectators won’t be discouraged from completing the form. This will help with statistics for fundraising.
Other Subcommittee Reports: No representatives of subcommittees present to report.

Next Meeting:
Friday, June 11, 2004, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the new City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay (every other Friday)

Next Agenda:

The meeting was held at City Hall’s Meeting Room at 411 W. Clay at noon.
Present were Sage Sangiacomo, Bob Beltrami (President), Randall Feare, Matt Wilson, Larry DeKnoblough, Marianne Mulheren, Lisa Mammina, Joy Beeler (Treasurer), Kate Magruder, Jonathan Whipple and Carole Aleshire (Secretary).

Approval of May 28 meeting minutes: Accepted without change.

Status Update on Potential Sites (Larry): A site has been designated by the Ukiah City Council, at the Ukiah Depot on Perkins at the railroad!!! Next week,Ted Erikson & Larry will go out and stake it out. The siting of the skate park has been shifted to the east from earlier ideas to allow for Hospital Drive to go through to the south if that is ever slated to occur. Landscaping will go more to the west where the park had been expected to be, so if necessary for Hospital Drive it can be taken out. The site is kind of kitty-corner to the new Depot Park going in. It will go down to the fence and to the creek. Next meeting we’ll have at the site so we can clearly see where it will be. The City is preparing a professional sign to designate this as the future home of the skate park.
Marianne has written a short blurb about the site to go on the website with a heading of “We Did It!” Marianne read it aloud and everyone liked it and approved it for the website. Marianne will put in on the web with a picture of the site.

Assign/confirm chair for each subcommittee: Bob first brought up that when we named our officers, we never discussed a term length. Bob’s life is getting overly full and he feels he can’t do justice to the position of President to the degree that he would like to, with putting a face out in the community in that officer’s name. He’s willing to hang in for the time being but would like others to consider if they are willing to step into the office. Bob said that running the meetings is the smallest part of what he would like to be doing. He was complimented on the professional job he has been doing all along running the meetings.
We had previously decided that in order to get the subcommittees going and setting up and following through on tasks, each needs to have a chair, and that chair should be listed on the website with contact information for people wanting information or to sign up. We went through each subcommittee and read out the duties assigned to the subcommittee and asked for a chair and heard a report as appropriate.

Design Subcommittee: Matt is willing to be the chair, and is ready to get building! He reports that Wormhoudt is ready to meet and talk, and if we had any substantial money to put down, they’d be willing to drop most everything else and at least get started on smaller elements before the end of summer. Matt wants a meeting soon to determine the design elements desired, but he already knows the simpler elements after seeing what people skate around town. He would like to start with a phase one bowl on the site as soon as possible. Joy fears that having a bowl there could have a negative impact on fundraising if people think the park is already going. It’s important to go into it with clearly organized phases planned and documented, which we could then publicize as part of our PR campaign.
Previously on the list for this subcommittee were Paul Anderson, Ed Keller, Sage Sangiacomo, Matt Wilson, Justin Capri and Larry DeKnoblough. Added to the list at last Wednesday night’s historical City Council meeting when our site was approved were (please forgive and correct me on any misinterpretations of the handwriting): James Munday, Christian Freeman, Robinson Copper, Tim Parks, Jessica Standerfer, Christina Dangler, Ray Owen and Darcy King.
The City engineering staff will stake the property this week and Matt can come and see how it looks and look at the Willits design for the subcommittee to consider. The subcommittee should hold a workshop to include ideas from the skaters in the community. The architectural firm should be included, and may take a lead in the design. However, it will need to be determined if it is to be a public works project as it would need to go out to bid. Larry will be working on that aspect.
A meeting is set for June 25, 11:00 a.m. to noon at the City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay, before going over to the skate park site at noon for our full committee meeting. Matt will call everyone for the meeting. Matt’s phone number is 467-9365.

Documentation Subcommittee: This subcommittee has not really formed up. Matt had been named Chair and he is stepping down from that post to devote his attention to Design. One of the tasks assigned to this subcommittee was a Board Packet. Do we still need that? Probably not, but how about a brief history? Marianne already has that established on the website. Another task is documentation of all minutes including subcommittees. We decided that having the minutes of the main committee meetings including reports from subcommittees on the website should be sufficient. Also on the website should continue to be the scope of work of the subcommittees and the contact people and the upcoming meetings. It was decided to dissolve this subcommittee. Carole and Marianne will work together to see that all these bases are covered. The group approved posting of minutes in draft form to the website rather than waiting until they are approved at the next meeting. Any changes will be posted when approved.

Fundraising Subcommittee: This is our most developed subcommittee and has already done some good work. Joy is the chair but would like to have a co-chair to help with the enormous tasks to come. They will need a very active subcommittee with involved members. The goals are clear: come up with a fundraising plan, develop funding sources, coordinate all fundraising activities and coordinate with the Public Relations subcommittee.
This subcommittee met today at 11:00. They discussed grant opportunities. The City will be contacting some skate park groups through the California League of Cities to see what grants they used. Some of their plans include developing a list of volunteers willing to work on grants, talking to other communities regarding their fundraising activities, making up a sponsorship packet, talking to community organizations, scheduling events such as movies, activities at Ukiah Players, a dinner, working with Rotary and other nonprofits, and planning a large fundraising event inviting people who could potentially be large donors for a nice high-priced dinner gala with auction. They will send out a press release next week asking for more subcommittee members. Carole wondered about publicizing how people can donate money, who to make the check out to, etc, whether we should be mentioning the Community Foundation. If anyone willing to donate money requires that we be a 501(c)3 corporation, they would be directed to the Community Foundation. If that requirement was for grant funding they would be directed to the City of Ukiah. There is already an arrangement with Hoyman Browe for some type of donor bricks or ceramic tiles or some such.
The list previously consisted of Joy Beeler (Chair), Dina Polkinghorne, George Phelan, Justin Capri, Paul Anderson, Ed Keller, Sage Sangiacomo, Jonathan Whipple, Lindy Dunaway and Kate Magruder. Added to the list at the City Council meeting was Christina Dangler.
Next meeting is set for Wednesday, June 23 at noon at the City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay. Larry suggests that Richard Shoemaker be invited. Joy will take care of that.

Public Relations Subcommittee: This subcommittee is responsible for all public outreach, marketing, promotions, and coordinating with other subcommittees to create a portfolio. No chair has been assigned. Joy said that George Phelan is interested in working with the High School to develop some sort of a dog and pony show, which would be an important piece. Kate wondered if Orion Walker might be interested in chairing this subcommittee. He is scheduled to take a Ukiah Players’ workshop on developing digital stories (3-5 minute computer-generated multi-media stories) and this could be a good vehicle for this purpose. Kate will ask Orion about it next week. Press releases would be done by the fundraising subcommittee in conjunction with fundraising events.
Previously signed up for this subcommittee were Laurel Near, Matt Wilson, Mimine Ambrois, Kathleen Stone, Marianne Mulheren, Jim Mulheren, Justin Capri, and Bob Beltrami, with Dina Polkinghorne & George Phelan specifically interested in working on a Power Point presentation. Added at the City Council meeting was William French, a publication designer at 462-4307.
No chair has been assigned and no meeting set yet.

Skate Events Subcommittee: Matt reports that we lost the storage shelter for the ramps and they have been pretty well trashed out in a vacant lot now so we’re not ready to dive into skate events without a lot of work first.
Should this be part of Fundraising instead of its own subcommittee? Joy intends to work in fundraising for the skate park at Pumpkinfest and other big community events that have traditionally had a skate jam or competition, even without the ramps. If we could come up with just one ramp it would be better than none. Joy and the Fundraising Subcommittee will call on Justin when needed.
Justin is the chair of the subcommittee and the members previously signed up include Matt Wilson, Orion Walker (bringing in folks from the Youth Project?) and Lindy Dunaway. Added at the City Council meeting were Tim Parks and Jessica Sanderfer.

Kate requested that when the draft minutes are sent out, rather than burying coming meetings in the attached document, they be featured at the top of the emails. Carole will do that, this time including the Fundraising Subcommittee meeting time needing all hands on deck, especially for grant research, event planning; the Design Subcommittee meeting coming up, and the need for a chair for the Public Relations Subcommittee; also the need for data entry people for the survey results.

The skater surveys are back from the schools, at least most of them, and now Joy will create a spreadsheet on a computer at the Main Street Program at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center for the data to be entered into. Volunteers should call Joy.

Next Meeting:
Friday, June 25, 2004, noon to 1:00 p.m.: Field trip to our new site at the Ukiah Railroad Depot on Perkins!!! Meet there at noon! (Meetings are every other Friday)

Next Agenda:

Field trip to our Ukiah Skate Park site, covering the following as time and environment permits:

The meeting was held at our new site on Perkins at the RR Depot. No real welcome location yet for a meeting, we were situated in the midst of old rails and ties and miscellaneous railroad stuff. It was suggested that we might ask if we could use some of the rails for grinding rails in the park, carrying forward some of the history.

Present were Ed Keller, Rex Eiffert, Dina Polkinghorne, Larry DeKnoblough, George Phelan, Bob Beltrami (President), Marianne Mulheren, Jonathan Whipple, Justin Capri (co-VP) Matt Wilson (co-VP) and Carole Aleshire (Secretary).

Approval of June 11 meeting minutes: Approved without change.

Marianne noted that she is now putting the latest minutes up on the website clearly noted as “Draft” so that anyone can go there to see the latest. Once approved, the “Draft” will be removed. Marianne has made many changes to the website recently, now that we finally have a site. Notice has been sent to everyone to look it over and test it out and report any problems to Marianne. It was suggested that the “History” page be updated to move from ancient history (when we had two other sites under consideration) to reflect the current situation. Marianne will add a bit about the new site being finalized.

Site Update: There we were in the middle of the site, surrounded with tall grass and one large pile of junk. Larry led us in visualizing the boundaries: the east fence is the eastern boundary, the creek just south of the pocket park is the northern boundary, the southern boundary may line up with the north end of the distributor building (which is to the west) or it could extend a little south of that line. The logical extension of Hospital Drive from the north is the western boundary and we’ll be asking NCRA if it would be okay to landscape the area west of that boundary and out to Perkins to make the whole area look nice. Then if Hospital Drive is ever extended south, it would just be some landscaping that would have to go. City staff are awaiting the signed lease from NCRA before staking out the site.
Rex has done most of the permitting paperwork for mowing the property with his tractor. With Larry’s help with notifying the fire department and the completion of the paperwork, Rex should be able to mow the site next week sometime. Thanks, Rex!

Fundraising Subcommittee Report (George): They met Wednesday, planning a barbecue at our site as a kickoff party, charging a nominal amount. They are tentatively planning on Saturday, Aug. 28. They suggest doing a blow up of the lease and doing a ceremonial signing, then putting up a sign at the site. George’s Rotary Club will supply their barbecue wagon. Also under consideration is a “golf ball drop” put on by the Rotary as a fundraiser. The next meeting of the Fundraising Subcommittee is scheduled for July 9, 11:00 at the City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay, before the full committee meeting.
There is lots of community support becoming evident. Fundraising subcommittee members should give any information about planned events to Marianne, and she’ll create a poster on the website. Bob will be giving a presentation to the Lion’s Club. Dina mentioned that Home Depot has a community grant, which could be a good kickoff for their coming to town if we apply for it. A grantwriting workgroup will be formed soon, to include somebody from the City. That workgroup could ask the Mendocino Foundation if they can work with us as partners on grants. There is also the hope that Susanne might include the Skate Park project in her UDJ column at some point.
Public Relations Subcommittee Report: No meetings have been held. We left off still looking for a chair for this subcommittee but there have been no volunteers. Is it a logical extension of fundraising? Maybe start out as one subcommittee and branch out as it evolves and the need is there. A motion to combine Public Relations with Fundraising (called Fundraising) was seconded. Discussion: at the last Fundraising Subcommittee meeting, it came up that it seemed to be evolving that way. Motion carried. This subcommittee needs a secretary or at least a co-chair, as there is more work than Joy can handle as Chair. Marianne will update the website accordingly.

Design Subcommittee Report (Matt): Met today, talked about what elements to include to improve this nice downtown area and make it multi-generational. There are different design companies to work with, and they are looking into some more besides Wormhoudt. Wormhoudt does design but their parks mostly go out to bid. Matt & Justin are both going up to Oregon and will visit Wormhoudt’s parks and offices. Rex has some contacts in Beaverton. The subcommittee will be looking at how much fill is needed to bring in, how deep the bowls can be. May want to utilize some portable units if site constrictions dictate. Drainage & water tables are the limiting factors, may limit it to a 3 foot depth. Drainage may have to go out to the streets. The specifications for bid will address the bidders’ experience building skate parks, quality of the concrete and maintenance of that quality, which are critical liability factors. The layout has not been addressed yet. Once NCRA comes back with the actual piece they can get more specific. Proportional models may be a good way to go or computer design. The next meeting of the Design Subcommittee will be 10:00 on Friday July 9, in the City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay, pending availability of the room. This is prior to the Fundraising Subcommittee meeting which is prior to the full committee meeting, all in the same room.

Skate Events Subcommittee Report: Justin has looked at our ramps, and they’re in pretty bad shape. A couple of the newest ones will be usable, but others will be scrapped. Now that we have a site, we need to get ramps built for fundraising events. Service clubs could be a big help to get donated materials and labor to upgrade the ramps.

Next Meeting:
Friday, July 9, 2004, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the City Hall meeting room at 411 W. Clay (every other Friday)

Next Agenda: