Minervini relinquishes skatepark effort to Arriba teen center group

By Karen Brainard

Resident Joe Minervini, who was actively pursuing a skatepark for Ramona, has halted his efforts after learning that another group is working on a skatepark.

The Arriba Skatepark Committee (ASC) has been established under the nonprofit Arriba Teen Center, said teen center board president Kim Lasley. She and the other board members — Vice President Jason Carney, Secretary Nancy Roy and Director Jake Doomey — serve on the skatepark committee. Doomey and Carney own Slappy’s Skateboard Garage in Ramona.

Minervini said he has turned over all his information on establishing a skatepark in the community to the ASC members.

Speaking of Carney and Doomey, Minervini said, “They’re both accomplished skateboarders and accomplished in the skateboarding industry. They are dedicated and their heart is in it. I thought the best thing would be to turn over all efforts to the real professionals.”

Minervini held a community skatepark meeting at the Ramona Library on Dec. 1 that drew about 75 people. Minervini said if he had known last year of the ASC’s efforts, he would not have pursued his skatepark ideas.

According to Lasley, the ASC members have been working on a skatepark for Ramona for a couple of years and at some point will hold a public meeting.

“We’re trying to do things the right way,” she said. “We just want to be prepared.”

Lasley said they would like to build a skatepark on land behind the Ramona Library 1275 Main St., in the area that has been earmarked for the Ramona Intergenerational Community Campus (RICC). The land is county-owned, said Lasley, and the original RICC plans included a skatepark, as well as a teen center and a senior center.