Skate park safety
The town of Whitefish has learned to accept the idea of a skateboard park. However, a skateboard park needs to have a safe way for kids to get there.
If you really look at the Armory location and the lack of safety features for the kids that will ride their bikes and skateboards to and from the proposed skateboard park, the Armory location is a poor location.
Safety should be a priority. When our own city councilor Doug Adams said he wouldn't have his own kids walk to the skateboard park, we should consider other options.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 15,600 persons need hospital emergency room treatment each year for injuries related to skateboarding. Fractures are a frequent type of injury. Deaths are a result of collisions with motor vehicles.
Dr. Karen Sokal-Gutierrez reports last year, 50,000 children were treated in U.S. emergency rooms for skateboard injuries. Most serious injuries and deaths occurred when children were hit by vehicles.
The Armory location has two poor road accesses and is asking for an accident to happen. These kids are kids and will want to ride the hills to the park and from the park on Armory Road on their bikes and skaterboards.
When leaving the Armory and traveling west on Armory Road, there is a downhill grade and a blind curve. I have witnessed several near-miss accidents when someone riding a bike was met head on by a car.
Vehicle traffic on the straightaway section of Armory Road can be very fast. I question whether the speeds have even been monitored and recorded on this section of road.
That is why I am urging the city council to reconsider the current Armory location. There are other options. Jack Zerr Memorial Park is an excellent choice. Besides this park being abandoned and decaying, Jack Zerr was known for his happiness in the community. This happiness was from watching kids enjoy their childhood days.
As a long time resident that played Little League on this field, I am ashamed how poorly kept up the Jack Zerr Field is. That's why this is a perfect place for the skateboard park. It's begging for kids' attention.
Another location is the Rock Pile also by the high school. This field has so much room and really has very few residents nearby.
These locations will allow great exposure for the sport and are centrally located in a neighborhood that is used to having kids playing tennis, basketball, baseball, football and various other kids' activities.
Plus, this will make it much more accessible for the whole town and easier to patrol. In addition, overhead for construction bike paths would be eliminated. This is a good business decision.
After attending the Parks and Rec public hearing, it came to my knowledge that these locations have not even been considered, and it would take too much time to change from the Armory location. What is wrong with taking more time to make the right decision for the town of Whitefish?
Also, according to the city council, the fact that there are no sidewalks or bike paths or a safe way for kids to come to the Armory is not enough to hold up a project. Safety should be first here.
Jack Zerr Memorial Field or the Rock Pile are obvious choices for the skateboard park
Ray Queen
Whitefish
Bear ordinance
Passing meaningless ordinances is not only costly, but places an annoyance on the community you represent.
The Whitefish City Code 4-2-4A places every residence in violation of garbage containment whether it is out in the street or on the premises. The only exception being garbage stored in an odor-free bear-proof container.
Bear management is far beyond human comprehension. Being wild means survival of the fittest. A hunger impulse is the stimulus of life.
The Ursala Abatement Whitefish City Code 4-2-4A, which calls for securing garbage containers between 4 and 7 a.m., is meaningless to a hungry bruin. The absurdity of this ordinance is that bears' hunger impulses are not restrained on an appropriate time schedule.
A more realistic outlook would be a scale of 1 to 5 as a garbage-odor attraction. The mayor's house would rank 5 on the scale. All other homes in the neighborhood rank 1. Who should receive the code 4-2-4A violation warning?
It doesn't make any difference where garbage containers are at a given time. Bears will find what they want whenever.
Every ordinance requires expedient attention if "no" is to have significance. Placing codes on a priority due to understaffing should be addressed promptly as a budget necessity.
Is there a need for a voluntary ad hoc committee to review the City Council voting errors?
James Duncan
Whitefish