North Canton's Dogwood Skate Park: More Trouble Than It's Worth?

Rusty fences, a dirty drinking fountain and too little police enforcement, in Larry Tripp’s opinion, make the Dogwood Skate Park a “breeding ground for trouble.”

The North Canton resident addressed City Council Monday night with concerns that the safety of the park, , will only get worse before it gets better.

“The more we let this area get run down, you and I know we’re just asking for trouble,” Tripp said.

Council discussed what the city could do to prevent crimes and suspicious activity from taking place in the park.

backed the park and its contributions to the community, saying he fully supported bringing it to North Canton and he hopes to find additional money in the city’s budget to improve the park.

“People need recreational facilities in this community,” Foltz said.

Councilman Pat DeOrio disagreed with putting more money into the site and increasing police enforcement.

“If, in fact, we’re having a lot of man hours devoted to it from the police department, I have to question whether this is the right facility to have.”

He said the city should consider getting rid of the park entirely.

“I don’t think the skate park does anything for us, brings in anything good for the community.”

Councilman Jeff Davies argued the streets still should come before improvements to city parks.

“It’s not a priority — to me, personally, anyway,” Davies said. “My priority is to get the streets done and make sure the streets of North Canton are safe for everybody and not put money into a park that attracts drug dealers.”

Council President Jon Snyder said he will talk with Lt. Michael Wurgler, who serves as provisional police chief, to see what can be done.

Discussion about competitive bidding for cell phone contract

North Canton resident Chuck Osborne read a 1,000-word prepared speech about the city’s purchase of new Verizon cell phones and the yearly contract cost — about $37,000.

Osborne said the city conducted no competitive bidding, which it’s required to do on items more than $25,000, according to the Ohio Revised Code.

Osborne reminded city officials of its current situation with the Ohio Department of Development, which is working with the city to resolve a similar issue in which officials failed to follow proper bidding procedures for a JRS grant. The city received $5 million of state money for the Hoover Campus Redevelopment project, he said.

Mayor David Held said he’s confident the city will resolve its issue with the JRS grant and the cell phones.

“I appreciate the fact you brought up all the steps in the procedure,” Held said. “We’re fully aware of it and we’re going to resolve it.”

City Administrator Michael Grimes said the city will make no payment to Verizon until the issue is resolved.

Selection of North Canton police chief

Held said four lieutenants tested for the position of North Canton police chief, which became available when . Those test results will be certified within the next week. The top three scorers will be eligible. Within 30 days after that, an assessment review committee — made up of five people, including former mayor Dave Johnson, former finance director V. Margaret Loretto and others — will make a recommendation to him and Grimes.

“It’s going to be a very tough process,” Held said. “What I can say is all of the candidates are exceptional candidates, and any one of them will serve the city very well.”