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Though a skate park is a good idea, it is not the best time for the Juab School District to decide whether money should be given to the cause.

"The Nephi Skate Park Committee is seeking a one-time financial contribution or investment from the Juab School district to help fund the skate park in our community," said Steve Carter.

"Come back and contact us in January or February," said Delanie Hathaway, board vice president. "That will be after the Legislature has had a chance to met and act and will know what the numbers are."

The district also needs to discuss and seriously consider the various projects they have been requested to support, she said.

Carter said that, according to the latest statistics, skateboarding is America's fastest growing sport.

The majority of skate parks are publicly funded and all are family oriented and appeal to a large spectrum of the public&emdash;from young children to senior adults.

A contribution of $20,000 would represent 10.3 percent of the construction, a contribution of 410,000 would represent 5.1 percent; a contribution of $15,000 would be 7.7 percent; and a contribution of $5,000 would be 2.6 percent of the project.

"We are 110 percent supportive of the push to build a swimming pool in Nephi," said Steve Carter, who has been working since 2002 to get a skate park built in Nephi.

He said when he and his family moved to Nephi four years ago, one of the first things that happened was that Mayor Chad Brough, who was running for re-election, posted a campaign flyer on Carter's door stating that he hoped to see a skate park built in the community.

Carter and his son, Cole, then formed a Skate Park Committee in 2002 and made a presentation to Nephi City Council. He said there were approximately 100 people in attendance at the meeting.

The mayor said at the meeting about the swimming pool that there were just three times during his tenure that the council chambers had been full, said Carter.

"Ours was one of those three meetings."

The committee, in counsel with Nephi City Council, has selected a site, have contacted design experts and have a plan.

Carter said that Lone Peak Skate Park in Sandy, showed that use of their facility was mostly by boards with 59 percent of the use represented by that group. Blades made up 21 percent of the use and BMX bikes made up the remaining 20 percent.

Cole Carter presented the design the committee is seeking to build.

The above-ground facility will feature a fun box, hips, a quarter pipe, a half pipe, a spine, a bank, a skate bench, a grind rail, a kick ramp, a skate table, a pyramid, a skate barrier and a launch ramp.

"Our design has a lot of flow," said C. Carter.

He said that many of the design features duplicate the sorts of edges found on public property, picnic tables and the edges of curbs, for example. Thus the skater does not need to ruin public property because the park has all of the features needed to test and build the skill of the skater.

The skate park is proposed as a multi-use facility with facilities which will accommodate bikes, blades, boards, and scooters.

Unfortunately, S. Carter said, those in our community who want to skate do not have a lot of places where the sport is allowed.

"We ask kids not to destroy property by skating but we offer them no place to skate," said S. Carter.

There were certain individuals who were not into contact sports, such as football, soccer and basketball. Yet the country was experiencing an epidemic of obesity and ill-health caused by it. There had to be a way to encourage physical exercise without damaging public property.

In addition, said Carter, the sport offered a diversion from drugs and trouble by giving kids a focus.

He said that it was proposed that the old high school tennis courts, now in possession of the city, would be an excellent site for the skate park and that was the current plan.

"The city attorney has not seen any problems with liability," said Carter.

He said the committee was continuing to pound on doors seeking money for the project. However, the support of the school district is needed to make the project successful.

"When the Fillmore and Delta skate parks were built, the Millard School District contributed $10,000 to each of the projects," said Carter. "The grant which helped build the Delta park required matching funds which came from Delta City, Millard County and the Millard School District."

The project cost is estimated at $90,000 for features such as pipes, ramps, and decks; $35,000 for concrete; $15,000 for land preparation by demolishing the old facility and rebuilding the new; $11,000 for signs, sidewalks and road base; $4,000 for landscaping including sprinklers, and $40,000 for the land.

The committee, said Carter, assisted by Phil Baker, city park superintendent, had submitted a request for a grant to help construct the facility. In addition, the city had pledged both monetary and in-kind support.