Skatepark

JOHNSON SKATEPARK & BIKE TRACK COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES JOHNSON MUNICIPAL BUILDING / REMOTE ATTENDANCE BY ZOOM WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2026 Present: Committee Members: Casey Romero, Howard Romero, Alexis Daniels, Greg Fatigate, George Swanson (via Zoom) Others: John Sutherland Note: All votes taken are unanimous unless otherwise noted. 1. Call to Order Casey called the meeting to order at 5:30. 2. Minutes of April 8, 2026 Howard moved to approve the minutes of April 8, 2026, Greg seconded and the motion was passed. 3. Directors’ Orders Casey said the only directors’ orders were for minutes. 4. FEMA: Concrete Project; Permit & Budget Updates John said asked for an extension from June 30 to December 31 using the FEMA website. It was denied. He reached out to his FEMA contact, who said typically everything that goes through the website gets denied. The contact gave him a template to use, with a place to describe the issue that is the reason an extension is needed. The issue is that we are waiting on permits. We are working on getting the Act 250 permit. We have a stormwater construction permit. He was told that was approved April 27, but there is a 30-day appeal period. We were also told we needed a compensatory storage data report that tells how the new bowl will affect the water capacity of the floodplain. He argued that there would be minimal or no impact. We paid $2500 for a report that said there would be minimal or no impact. The law says an engineer’s report has to be done. John forwarded the report from SLR to the Agency of Natural Resources. It has not yet been reviewed by them. John’s FEMA contact called today with additional questions. We should know fairly soon if the request for an extension is approved or denied. Casey said she and John talked this morning. She lobbied for selecting a contractor for the concrete project now, just as the selectboard did with the library project. They committed to a contractor but didn’t sign the contract until they had all the information they needed. This is on the agenda for the next selectboard meeting. Alexis asked if we have a say over which contractor is chosen. Casey said the selectboard has the authority to select one, but they will listen to our opinion. John said Rampage offers savings if we provide some labor but Catamount will provide all the needed labor and also anticipates being able to raise $5K in funds to help pay for the project. Casey said she feels it is time to commit to one contractor. John said if we do that, the one not chosen will be freed up to seek other work. We are not doing the contractors any favors by waiting. Casey said she and John talked about possible grant sources. John said the total cost will probably be about $204K. We have about $163K in cash on hand. Catamount said they would take $4K off if we did the hydroseeding. Jason said he can do that. The $5K Catamount is dedicated to raising Skatepark & Bike Track Committee Meeting Minutes p. 2 May 13, 2026 will help. The state Department of Buildings and General Services is looking at another round of funding coming out in August. Casey said this is a recreation facilities grant we have gotten several times before. John said we were encouraged to apply. The person he talked to indicated that if we had taken out a loan we could use the grant funds to pay the loan. 5. Water Line, 16’ Skatelite Pad, Other Site Issues Casey said no official further steps have been taken on the water line. She would like to discuss with Greg how the fence would be impacted by the digging that will have to be done. Casey said Geoff Hall was going to build the Skatelite pad but we don’t know for sure who will be working at the site and when, so we need to wait and see what happens on the project before making further plans. 6. Let’s Roll & Skate the Arts Program Updates Casey said we have to keep the site clear the first week of August for Skate the Arts camp. We are committed to having that camp there. Casey said we had to change who we will hire to do the site work this summer. It will be Michael Dolan. He is in the process of getting his paperwork done with Rosemary and getting his background check done. He is a prompt communicator. He has ideas about the best way to fix the pivot pole for the camera. He is interested in learning more about coaching. He would be happy to help with the Let’s Roll program Alexis asked if Kayla and Joey Handy can do the Let’s Roll program this year. Casey said it looks likely that they can. 7. Laraway Report George said there will be a Laraway work group that can help out at the skatepark this summer. He will talk to Casey about that at a later date. Students are working in the greenhouse. Their work there connects to the math and science curriculum. They are doing germination testing for a company in New York and making spreadsheets to record germination percentages. For Green Up Day, Laraway students picked up trash along about 2 miles of Hogback Road. Laraway has a new upper level math teacher who will be taking over for George so he will be able to concentrate more on administration and project-based learning. He will be there 3 days a week. He thinks he will be there another year before retiring. 8. New Committee Member Outreach Casey and Alexis have both given this a break after receiving no responses to their most recent posts. 9. Other Business Alexis has set up a GoFundMe account. Casey said she is not sure we are ready to launch a campaign. Casey and Alexis can work on it, maybe with advice from Isabelle Sullivan if John thinks she has time. We can continue to use the Coin for ‘Crete fundraising theme we have used before. 10. Adjourn Greg moved to adjourn at 5:55, Howard seconded and the motion was passed. Minutes submitted by Donna Griffiths