Action delayed on skate park wall

City commissioners Monday night called for further study on a proposed 14-16 foot wall at Upchurch skateboard park that may not solve a neighborhood noise problem.

After hearing from supporting skateboarders and opposing neighbors, commissioners came close to a split vote favoring an $86,000 fourteen-foot sound attenuating wall at Hamilton Upchurch Park.

With Commissioner Don Crichlow absent, three commissioners favored moving forward, but Mayor Joe Boles repeated earlier objections that the skateboard area is “not the beginners’ area that was sold to the neighborhood.”

“Before I’m willing to spend anything, I want further sound tests, a helmet requirement and age limits,” the mayor said.

Chief Operations Officer John Regan, who reported bids ranging from $67,900 for a 10-foot wall to $95,200 for a 16-foot wall, said he’ll seek a hold on the bid prices while investigating effectiveness of sound attenuation at other parks.

City Attorney Ron Brown, meanwhile, will study the legality of age restrictions for the skateboard area.