By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Ortonville-No Skate Park this year.

The village council unanimously voted at their June 27 meeting to keep the park closed for the rest of the season.

“We only had 10 kids signed up and that was not enough,” said Village Manager Mike Lee. “To make it financially feasible for an attendant, we were looking in the range of 25-30 registrations.”

The fee of $20 per park user helps fund the salary of a monitor to oversee the park which opened in 2004 and is located at the corner of Cedar and Ball streets in a residential area. The park was very popular for a number of years with kids, but not with neighbors, who complained of noise, vandalism, littering, profanity and drug use at the facility. The complaints necessitated the hiring of a monitor, which resolved the majority of issues.

However, skate park use has been on the decline and was closed for half the season last year and all of 2014 due to lack of registrations.

Lee is uncertain about the future of the Skate Park. The village owns the actual park, but Brandon Township owns the equipment in the park. Recreation Director Fred Waybrant has previously estimated the total investment in the park to be $120,000, with $85,000 worth of equipment, $15,000 in concrete, and the remainder of costs in fencing and excavating. Various fundraisers, donations, and grant money paid for the park’s establishment.

“We are waiting to find out what the assessed value of the property is,” said Lee. “Those ramps may not have any financial value left and if they don’t have value, the township can do whatever they want to do with it… The grantor can say, do whatever you want, there is no resale value… The first shoe that needs to drop is the property assessment and that will give us the flexibility for direction. We can’t do anything until we get that.”

The village council may discuss the skate park legacy, Lee said, at their next meeting, set for 7 p.m., July 25, at the township offices, 395 Mill St.