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Council moves forward with skate park design
By Chris Roark, croark@starlocalnews.com
The Flower Mound Town Council on Monday approved a professional services agreement for the design of a skate park.
The skate park is set to be located in the 98-acre Heritage Park of Flower Mound, which will be between Bakersfield and Gerault parks. The design for the project will go to Kimley-Horn for $39,100. Funding for this project is set for this fiscal year.
Mayor Melissa Northern, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Steve Lyda and Councilman Tom Hayden voted for the design service. Mayor Pro Tem Al Filidoro and Councilman Mark Wise voted against it. Councilwoman Kendra Stephenson was not present during the discussion, so she abstained, causing Northern to cast a vote to break the tie.
A resident survey in conjunction with the 2010 parks master plan revealed that the skate park was the fifth-most requested outdoor amenity. That followed the town obtaining U.S. Corps. of Engineer property, developing Twin Coves Park near Grapevine Lake, constructing and improving the town's trail system and creating a dog park.
The dog park is set to be in Phase II of Heritage Park, in which funding will be available next fiscal year.
The skate park was part of the 2002 bond election that voters approved. Originally, it was set to be constructed as part of Gerault Park. Funding issues caused it to be delayed.
Kent Collins, assistant town manager, said the park would provide a place for skateboarding, inline skating, bicycling and motocross.
Some members of the council asked if the skate park is still a priority.
"If its birth was in 2002, my concern is if the need or desire for the skate park is as strong as it was back then," Wise said. "I don't seem to see as many kids skateboarding as I used to. I'd hate to spend a lot of money and have the expense of it only for it to sit there and not get utilized."
Lyda said he feels like the desire is still there and added that it should go forward since it was promised to voters during the bond election.
"A skate park would offer kids a place to learn new skills and challenges while giving them a safe place to do that," Lyda said. "It gives them a place to ride their bikes without having to find a trail or risk being in the street."
Filidoro said he wanted to see the town pursue the dog park, which ranked No. 5 on the survey. He said it would get more use, and he hasn't seen enough information to convince him the skate park would draw in a lot of people.
Hayden said he didn't want to change the order since the council, the Parks, Arts and Library Services (PALS) Board and the Community Development Corporation (CDC) have already moved forward with the skate park.
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