What was planned as an “unsupervised” facility now will be staffed during all open hours.
Ocean City is advertising for part-time recreation attendants to monitor and enforce the rules of the new Cape May County Skateboard Park in Ocean City at Fifth Street and Asbury Avenue.
The new state-of-the-art concrete park opened on Sept. 24 and immediately attracted big crowds of skaters of all ages. But from the start, skaters without required helmets and pads outnumbered those with them — particularly among adolescents and young adults.
The disregard of the park’s rules forced the Ocean City Community Services Department to briefly lock the gates to the park on Sept. 29 before reopening later that day with city staff on patrol.
The park is open 9 a.m. to dusk daily — a schedule that will require the city to hire more than one part-time attendant.
Ocean City Business Administrator Jim Mallon said Wednesday that the city should be OK getting through the remainder of the year within budget. He said that the Recreation Department would have to include a new allocation in the city budget for next year.
Assuming an average 9 hours a day at $9 an hour, the expense for staffing the park would be approximately $30,000.
Mallon said park monitoring could be supplemented with seasonal staff on occasion.
The city appropriated $250,000 from its capital improvement budget to pay for its share of the approximately $750,000 facility (with a Cape May County Green Acres Recreation Grant paying the rest), but the city did not budget for ongoing operating expenses related to the park.
Rules of the park are clearly posted on signs at the entrance, and skaters invested in the park’s success maintained a fairly rigorous but fruitless effort to self-police in the first days the park was open.
The park is free to use but the job posting leaves open the possibility that the attendant “may collect fees from skaters.”
The park rules are as follows:
- Skate Park will be open daily from 9:00 am to dusk (weather permitting).
- Skate Park will be closed during inclement weather and/or when equipment is damaged or wet or for routine maintenance.
- The following protective equipment is required to be used while skating: helmet, elbow pads, knee pads.
- Use of personally owned ramps, boxes, rails or other similar items is prohibited.
- Use of alcohol and tobacco products is prohibited.
- Skate Park is for skating. Bikes and scooters are prohibited.
- No amplified sound is permitted except by permit.
- Parental supervision for inexperienced skaters and those less than 12 years of age 1s strongly recommended.
- No food or glass containers are permitted in the skate park.
- Unsafe conditions should be reported to the City of Ocean City, Department of Community Services.
- Skating is prohibited on the adjacent parking lots, sidewalks and streets.
- Proper behavior is required at all times. Abusive, profane language or aggressive behavior will not be tolerated.
- Rules violations will result in suspension of skating privileges.
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