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Bryan Bear From: Karen Ray <karenray@visi.com> Sent: Monday, November 03, 2014 3:20 PM To: Becky Petryk; Bryan Bear Cc: Janice Porter; Josh Berger; Mark Viker; Shannon Costello; Timothy Scanlan; Jennifer Campbell; June Fulton Subject: Ice skating at Victor Gardens October 14, 2014 Becky Petryk, City Council, City of Hugo Bryan Bear, City Administrator Dear Ms. Petryk, Thank you for meeting with representatives of the Victor Gardens Master Association on August 12. During that meeting we discussed ice skating on the Victor Square garden fountain. The Board met on October 8 and passed a motion requesting that the City of Hugo prohibit skating in that one particular location. There are skating rinks in Hugo and in Centerville at LaMotte Park. These are ice rinks and ice sheets officially designated for skating. Both of these rinks are close to Victor Gardens, so residents in our neighborhood - and in Hugo - can safely skate in a nearby location. The fountain was not built for sports. The surface of the fountain is between four and ten feet below the sidewalk. A skater must climb down the landscaping rocks to get to the ice. In the winter the landscaping rocks are full of ice and snow, and are not engineered for people to climb on them. The area of the Square where the fountain is located is not lit; when it gets dark enough that skaters must leave the ice, they climb up the snowy rocks in the dark. There is great potential for personal injury. Damage has already occurred because of skating. Some of the plantings were damaged and had to be replaced. Pavers are missing in the area where skaters have climbed in and out of the fountain, and some board members attribute this damage to skaters. There is no way of determining how thick the ice is on the fountain. Just below the water line there are floodlights (not operational in the winter), electric conduits, plumbing and tubs for fountain plants. Skaters could be damaging this infrastructure with shovels, play equipment and the blades of the skates. Victor Square is a joint project between the City and Victor Gardens. We are doing our part by maintaining the fountains and the planting. This year alone the Master Association has spent thousands of dollars trimming plants, adding mulch and other maintenance activities. Check out the Square, it looks beautiful! We ask that the City do its part to help us avoid unnecessary expensive repairs and personal injury by prohibiting skating in the fountain itself. Thank you, Victor Gardens, Master Association submitted by Karen Ray, Board member