Glasgow City Council Discusses Proposed Skate Park At Bundy

The regular City Council meeting was filled with a variety of emotions by all of those in attendance, from the City Council members to the proponents and opponents to the proposed skatepark at Bundy Park. The committee behind the development of the skatepark was also in attendance to express their desire to utilize Bundy Park as a location for the revamped community skatepark.

“We have a lot of community support. It’s really important for us to get a location confirmed as soon as possible, because not having one is holding up our fundraising,” expressed President of Siding 45, a now non-profit to promote creative expression through arts and recreation in Glasgow, Tess Fahlgren.

“We are eligible for certain grants but we don’t have a location and we don’t have a design. That is the one thing really holding us back from being able to say ‘We have met our matching grant, we are going to have it built this summer.’ Getting something confirmed tonight would boost that.”

Fahlgren also explained that Bundy Park is the most ideal location for the skatepark of all of the city properties the committee and the City Council toured over the summer. Based upon the recommendations of Evergreen Skateparks, the construction company that will be responsible for the building of the skatepark, Bundy Park is the best location due to having access to shade, bathrooms,water and being visible to the public. "This is the only city park location in Glasgow that meets all of that criteria,” explained Fahlgren.

Opponents to the location stated that the addition of the skatepark would reduce the availability of baseball and t-ball practice space while also taking away a park that should be maintained as grass and trees. However, the Siding 45 committee stated the proposed skatepark would only take three percent of Bundy Park, specifically on the west end, while leaving the rest of the park as is. The committee has also offered their volunteer services, including fundraising, to replace the existing pavilion and the playground currently at the park with new equipment and at a different location of the park itself. “My main point is it’s not going to infringe upon the field area and it allows for a park to be a place where all these local activities can happen,” explained Travis Young, a committee member of Siding 45.

As a result of the proposed change to Bundy Park, Fahlgren explained how the committee visited the surrounding neighborhood of the park, specifically on 10th Avenue and 8th Avenue, to gain the opinions of those who live near the park. She stated that a total of 16 were in support, four were neutral with four to five negatives. Mayor Rod Karst challenged the number of people in support stating “As the letters are coming in and I did talk to neighbors in and around Bundy Park, it was overwhelming, from what I was hearing from them, they did not want it there.”

Karst stated he talked to the Valley County Commissioners and to County Attorney Dylan Jensen to see if the City of Glasgow could work out an agreement with them to put the skatepark back where it was, which was one of the original requests from the Siding 45 committee. According to Karst, the Commissioners and Jensen are behind having the skatepark back where it originally was by the Fairgrounds, as long as the city works out the agreement. “It was good enough when you guys started this years ago, why wouldn’t it be good enough now?,” questioned Karst.

Council member Stan Ozark pushed back on Mayor Karst’s recommendation to work with the county to rebuild the existing skatepark. “This council voted in 2022 to allow the skatepark to be built on city property. Earlier this year some members of the council went and looked at different locations. Anyone who would look at those options would say Bundy Park is the obvious choice. It has everything. I have the concern of some of those folks who live right there by the skatepark but the fact is it’s a city park and it’s going to be used whether it’s baseball, soccer or just playing. This would be one part, three percent, of the park would be taken out by the Skate Park,” explained Ozark. “...I share the concerns of the homeowners and that’s why I’m kind of iffy on this. From what I heard tonight, is maybe we move forward to get an engineering study to see that it’s going to work.”

The rest of the City Council was in agreement regarding the need to have city parks be better utilized by kids to get them outside more and off the electronics while also taking into account the concerns of neighbors near Bundy Park. “I would like to see our parks used a lot more and I’m one of them ones that hate to see kids on video games,” stated councilman Doug Nistler.

“I was with Butch [Heitman] when we looked at the locations, it’s hands down the best location to have it. This is our parks, this is our land. It’s not one person’s land, it’s our land....there is value in what you’re doing. I’m behind Stan, maybe we take baby steps but I believe that moving forward to work together,” stated Councilman Brian Austin.

“I liked the presentation and agree with moving forward with the engineer,” stated Councilman Dan Carr. “People need more things to do in this town to stay off their phones and TV watching, you guys have done an amazing job,” applauded Councilwoman Lisa Koski. “I’m okay with moving forward, I would just hate to see us give up some of that park.”

Councilman Butch Heitman was also okay with letting the committee do more research but was also open to the idea of continuing discussions with the Commissioners to have the current skatepark revitalized.

In the end the entire City Council agreed to have the Skatepark committee have an engineering survey done to study the viability of the proposed location. Once the study is complete, the committee will come back to the Council with the results at which the next steps will be determined.

The City Council also held a working meeting on Dec. 11 to further discuss the skatepark.