Skate park wins approval

Future customers of Liberty Lake’s skate park packed the City Council chambers Tuesday night to see the council approve construction of the new park. Construction of the skate park inside Pavillion Park is expected to start immediately.

The council voted unanimously, with Judi Owens and Dave Crump absent, to award the bid for site work and a concrete slab to Peplinski Construction and the bid for the modular facilities to White Dog Construction. The total cost of the project will be $176,909.

“Can you refresh our memory on what we put in the budget?” asked council member Neal Olander.

The city received $93,000 in state and county grants for the project, said community development director Doug Smith. Some private, community donations were also received. “Our cost out of the general fund would be $82,000, which we have budgeted,” he said.

The skate park was one of the only two park projects to survive in the lean 2009 budget because the grants had already been received. The park has been on the drawing board for nearly three years. The park will include rails, ramps and other features for jumps and tricks.

“Kids, you’re going to have a skate park this summer,” said Mayor Wendy Van Orman after the vote as the crowd burst into applause. Some young skate boarders pumped their fists while a couple shouted “Who-hoo!”

The council also discussed how to handle the vacancy created when council member and Mayor Pro Tem Brian Sayrs resigned from the council last week. The consensus was to begin a quick application process so the council can appoint a new member with the expectation that the appointee will run in the November election. The time line is accelerated because of the June 1 through 5 filing period for anyone wanting to run in the election.

The option to leave the seat empty until the November elections was dismissed. “Eight months is a long time,” said council member Neal Olander. “We need to have all seven seats filled.”

Several council members pointed out the difficulty of having a quorum during the summer months with planned vacations if there are only six council members. The council barely had a quorum at Tuesday’s meeting. “I had hip surgery last week,” said council member Susan Schuler. “I came because I knew we wouldn’t have a quorum. I say lets get the seat filled.”

Applications for the seat are available on the city Web site at www.libertylakewa.gov. The application deadline is May 8. The council will call a special meeting in May to interview candidates.

In other business, the council approved a cooperative purchasing agreement with the state so the city can take advantage of the state’s buying power when seeking new equipment. The state can get a better price for things than the city can on its own, said Smith. There is an annual fee to join the co-op. “We will recoup our costs with the first order,” Smith said.

The council also postponed adoption of new rental fees for the Pavillion Park picnic shelter and the Trailhead multi-purpose room after council member Patrick Jenkins brought up concerns about who would be required to show proof of insurance to rent the facilities. “There’s some gray area on requirements to use the Pavillion,” he said. “I’d like to refer it back to the finance committee.”