Skatepark Meeting

JOHNSON SKATEPARK & BIKE TRACK COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES JOHNSON MUNICIPAL BUILDING / REMOTE ATTENDANCE BY ZOOM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2025 Present: Committee Members: Casey Romero, Howard Romero, Alexis Daniels (via Zoom), Greg Fatigate (briefly via phone) Others: Thomas Neel (briefly via Zoom) Absent: George Swanson Note: All votes taken are unanimous unless otherwise noted. 1. Call to Order Casey called the meeting to order at 5:52, later than usual due to Zoom system tech trouble; committee needed more instructions than were available. 2. Prospective Committee Members: Introductions, Discussion One prospective member was not present. Thomas Neel connected by Zoom for part of the meeting. 3. Minutes of November 12, 2025 Howard moved to approve the minutes of November 12, 2025, Alexis seconded and the motion was passed. 4. Directors’ Orders Casey said the only bill was a small one for meeting minutes. 5. Directors’ Orders George was not present, so there was no Laraway report. 6. FEMA Concrete Project Update Casey said we don’t know when the RFP for this project will go out, because we don’t have a town administrator. Casey filled in Carl Rogers, the Community and Economic Development consultant about the probable cost gap between the 2024 project estimate and anticipated 2026 costs. She did not ask him for any work on the RFP at this time. Having to complete the project by early summer next year is complicated by the fact that we have not resolved the water line situation. We don’t know yet who will pay for it or how it will be done. Casey has asked the Selectboard to discuss the water line and FEMA project RFP with the committee as soon as that can be scheduled, when a new Town Administrator has begun work. 7. Grant Work: Manny Pad, Security Cameras, Shed Casey said she asked Geoff Hall if he could build the whole manny pad and bring it to the site and he said yes. Alexis was glad to hear that update. No further progress on security camera purchasing and related shed carpentry. 8. Water Line, Other Site Issues Casey said the town is saying that the skatepark committee has site maintenance money in its budget that should be used for the water line work. She feels infrastructure for delivering a municipal utility is not part of the committee’s site maintenance responsibility. The town website says the town public works department does infrastructure work. 9. Possible Revision to FY 2027 Budget Casey said we approved expenses of $5,730 at the last meeting, before we got the approval from the state to build the concrete project by the end of next June. The estimate Catamount Skateparks gave us to go into the FEMA packet last year was quite low for the square footage we are trying to build. It was artificially low for reasons tied to the FEMA process. Their estimate was $29.40 per sq. ft. The Tony Hawk website about skatepark construction had financial information updated in 2025. They say $40-45 per sq. ft. is the typical nationwide figure. Skatepark & Bike Track Committee Meeting Minutes p. 2 December 10, 2025 (Thomas Neel joined the meeting at 6:07 but appeared to be having technical difficulties and soon disconnected.) Casey suggested that the committee consider adding potential fundraising revenue and corresponding expenditures to the FY27 budget. Right now our proposed budget only has $100 in fundraising revenue. We don’t know what the gap is between our FEMA funding and the cost of the project, but we know there will be one. We can change our proposed budget, but it has to be done soon, maybe no later than next week. If the actual cost of the project is $43/sq. ft. it will cost about $70K more than the FEMA budget. We will not add that much to our operating budget, but do we want to add a fundraising goal? Alexis suggested adding $8-10K. Casey said she was thinking of $4-8K. The committee agreed on $5K. Casey moved to add $5000 in fundraising revenue to the FY2027 budget and to add $5000 to the site capital improvements expense line. Greg joined the meeting by phone. Casey explained the proposed change to the budget and he agreed to it. The motion was passed 4-0. Greg left the meeting. 10. Adjourn Alexis moved to adjourn, Howard seconded and the motion was passed at 6:27. Minutes submitted by Donna Griffiths