Skatepark Meeting

JOHNSON SKATEPARK & BIKE TRACK COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES JOHNSON MUNICIPAL BUILDING / REMOTE ATTENDANCE BY ZOOM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2026 Present: Committee Members: Casey Romero, Howard Romero, Alexis Daniels Others: John Sutherland Absent: Greg Fatigate, George Swanson Note: A quorum was not present. 1. Call to Order Casey called the meeting to order at 5:37. 2. Minutes of January 14, 2026 No one had any corrections to the minutes, but as a quorum was not present there could not be an official motion to approve them. 3. Directors’ Orders & FY27 Budget Update Casey said the only bill was for meeting minutes. The town budget has been finalized. She hasn’t seen the final version but she hasn’t heard of any changes to the skatepark section, John said he is not aware of any. 4. Laraway Report George was not present so there was no Laraway report. 5. FEMA: Concrete Project RFP & Other Updates Casey said the FEMA project RFP is done. The selectboard is going to review it on February 19 and then it will be published. She will call at least Parker Construction and Geoff Hall to invite them to bid. Bids will be due the second week of March. The selectboard can award a contract at its March 16 meeting. She and John are working with the Agency of Natural Resources to make sure we don't need any Act 250 approval. John asked if there are any funding alternatives if more money is needed for the project. Casey listed a few options. The Hall brothers want to fundraise for us. She wondered if we may be able to defer some billing over time. She is concerned about the huge amount that has to be raised for the library. The skatepark committee may need to clean out its reserve fund. Kayla and Joey Handy might be able to work on a fundraising event in summer. She doesn't know that she would do a GoFundMe again. The Tony Hawk Foundation does offer some support for repairs to existing skateparks. That funding is very competitive. 6. Feb. 19 Selectboard Agenda Item re: Recreation & Parks Casey said there will be an agenda item on recreation planning at the upcoming selectboard meeting. She suggested discussing the points Adrienne Parker included in her recent email. Adrienne said she wants to explore opportunities for consolidating or streamlining committees and working groups to improving coordination and long-term planning for parks and recreation. Is there a simpler, more accessible structure that would encourage committee participation? John said he talked to Eben Patch. One thing he took away was that most of the committees have the same people year after year. There are not a lot of new people. Some committees have quite a few openings. What barriers are preventing people from stepping up? Alexis said she would love to see more members in this group. We have tried to recruit more recently. She has personally tried to recruit people from the skatepark, but they don’t want to come to meetings. Skatepark & Bike Track Committee Meeting Minutes p. 2 February 11, 2026 Casey said we encountered two people who seemed to have a lot of enthusiasm but did not follow through. Alexis said she talked to one of them. He is more interested in helping support a building project if the committee wants help. John said it is easy to criticize people on Facebook. Some people may be afraid to get involved because they could become a target. Casey said there is property maintenance and site work that needs to be in the municipal budget until the town is in a position to have someone take that on as part of their job. Howard said we had hopes that the public works crew could provide needed help, but they don’t have the time for it. That is why the fifth public works employee was so important, but it seems like that will not happen. John said he has talked to Isabelle Sullivan. He wants a tour of the town recreation facilities once the snow melts. Casey said her sense is that we are in a period where we have ideas and new energy but we have to accept that we are in a tight squeeze financially and will be for a couple more years. In the meantime, we can see what minor victories can be achieved. 7. Water Line, Other Site Issues Casey said John now knows more about the water line issue. John said he thinks that will probably be more of a spring item. In the spring, we can see what we need and reach out to see if the village can help us. Casey said the town public works crew probably cannot take on the work. If we want a contractor, spring is a very busy time. We have had good luck using Greg Fatigate. She suggested it would be helpful to identify a time frame for the work to happen. She doesn’t want to wait until spring to start looking for a contractor. Howard said he will be looking for someone to dig for the electric line around Legion Field as soon as possible. Casey said there has been no progress on getting cameras. Alexis agreed. 8. Other Business Casey said she is thinking it is time to post on Front Porch Forum to try to find committee members. Alexis and Howard agreed. 9. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 5:59 Minutes submitted by Donna Griffiths