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<br />Commissioner Shryock advised that the Hermansons have a nice site where they are and thought <br />it was unfortunate that they would have to deal with those issues. She advised that she bicycles <br />through that neighborhood almost every morning and also looked at a home in that area. She <br />explained that when the City plans a park they follow something called Crime Prevention for <br />Environmental Design. She advised that if they can build active things for kids to do, those kids <br />are less likely to be misbehaving somewhere else. She advised that the skate park is set to be <br />placed in one of the most visible places in the park and by providing constructive activities for <br />those' kids they are hopefully deterring them from doing things they should not be doing in that <br />area. She advised that they have a large percentage of younger children that would use the park <br />in that area of the city and explained that in the Town Center there is not that same demographic <br />of users. She explained that as they look at the demographics, Alpine Park fits most of the <br />neighborhoods and also has the trail connections in place that allow children to reach the park by <br />foot from other neighborhoods. <br /> <br />Mr. Hermanson questioned that with the current state of the economy should they even spend this <br />amount of money on this project. <br /> <br />Commissioner Shryock advised that parks provide value in hard times like this, as it is something <br />free that residents are able to use. She advised that the money for the park comes from <br />developers and is put aside in an account specifically for park and trail development. She <br />explained that the money does not come from taxes and cannot be spent on anything other than <br />parks and trail development. <br /> <br />Mr. Hermanson advised that he and his wife do not have any issues with the hockey rink and <br />would like to see a nature loop of trails and a picnic area instead of the skate park. He advised <br />that it would allow for residents of all ages to use the park, as the skate park does not incorporate <br />older people or people wishing to picnic. He advised that although he is coming across as <br />negative, he is not trying to be; he just believes that there would be better uses for the area. He <br />advised that the only reason he and his wife had come to the meeting is because they believed <br />that the Parks Commission and the City Council would both be present at this meeting. He <br />questioned if this issue was going to come before the City Council so that they would be able to <br />make their concerns known to the Council before construction begins. <br /> <br />Parks Supervisor Riverblood advised that the City Council was going to be present at the meeting <br />but had other scheduling conflicts that did not allow them to be present. He advised that this <br />issue may be on the Council agenda as soon as the June 24th Council meeting. <br /> <br />The Hermansons left the meeting. <br /> <br />Parks Supervisor Riverblood advised that the concept plan could definitely be amended to show <br />a picnic area that would incorporate the ideas that the Hermansons had. <br /> <br />Chairperson Johns agreed and thought it would be very doable and is also part of what the <br />Commission had wanted sprinkled through the park. <br /> <br />Park and Recreation Commission/June 12, 2008 <br />Page 8 of 11 <br />