Ortonville- The village council is taking action toward resolving issues at the Village Skate Park, but it appears to be too little, too late for neighbors of the park.
During their April 28 meeting, the council voted 4-3 to accept a recommendation from Brandon Township to apply for a risk management grant that would provide $10,000 (with a matching $10,000 from the village and township) to erect an 8-by-10 foot fence around the park and install security lighting and landscaping. The council also voted 4-3 that effective immediately, the park will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed Sunday, Monday and all holidays until Sept. 1. From Sept. 1-Oct. 1, the park will close one hour earlier, at 7 p.m. Finally, the council voted 5-2 to create a part-time position for which someone will be paid minimum wage to supervise the park from 4-8 p.m. five days a week.
These measures come after what neighbors of the park say have been five years of problems since the park opened, including noise, foul language, vandalism, indecent exposure and harassment.
But the action isn’t enough to appease some village residents, who have sought legal counsel. Attorney David Greenlees of Waterford said a demand letter was sent this week to village and township officials, telling them to remove the skate park as a public nuisance. His clients, he said, are concerned citizens of Ortonville.
‘They’ve had more than enough time to address the situation and act,? Greenlees said. ‘They have 15 days to provide me with whatever nuisance abatement plan they have and I will fax it to my clients to review and consider. It’s been an ongoing situation and a problem for more than five years, and the reaction by the local government is to do nothing.?
Village Council President Ken Quisenberry confirmed the village had received a notice from Greenlees, but said he had not seen or read it yet and had no comment on it. However, Quisenberry said he is not in favor of removing and relocating the skate park, which is what Greenlees and his clients are seeking.
‘This is a bad location for this facility,? Greenlees said. ‘It’s horrific and in someone’s backyard, essentially. The bottom line is, things aren’t getting better. The only thing they’ve come up with is to put up a fence for liability reasons? What about the problematic activity occurring there? No one is stepping up and coming up with a reasonable solution. You can still have a skate park, just not in someone’s neighborhood.?
Greenlees said the village and township have two weeks to let him know what they are going to do, but if the problems aren’t addressed, he plans to litigate.
Quisenberry said he supports requesting the grant and following the recommendations of the township. In the future, perhaps three to five years down the road, he said the solution of moving the skate park to the Brandon Township Community Park may have merit, but for now, it is not an option.