Public speakers and staff press for progress on long‑delayed Cambria skate park

Several speakers at the Feb. 12 board meeting urged the Cambria Community Services District to accelerate the long‑delayed Cambria Skate Park project, saying the town’s youth have been waiting years for a replacement facility.

"It's been 5 and a half years," said Connor Hendry, who identified himself as a local skate‑park builder, arguing that enough funds exist to build the skate surface and that permitting and the premanufactured restroom are the current obstacles. Julie Amadeuski and Chelsea Foster, speaking in person and via Zoom, reiterated community patience but pressed the board for a clear schedule and asked staff to put the project out to bid.

General Manager McElhaney gave a technical update: the district contracted a prefabricated public restroom that the county requires to provide engineering calculations demonstrating the unit’s flood‑proof characteristics. The restroom manufacturer (referred to in staff comments as PRC) has fallen behind on delivering those calculations; McElhaney said staff now estimate roughly 8–11 additional weeks before the engineering package is in hand and the district can issue an RFP. "We could be anywhere between 8 to 11 weeks before we have everything we need to proceed to go to RFP," McElhaney said.

Contracted district engineer Mister Soto (contract spelling in record) submitted calculations, but county planners have insisted on receiving the calculations from the restroom manufacturer directly, which triggered the current delay. Staff have filed a permit extension with county planning and discussed options—designing a custom restroom or using portable facilities with temporary occupancy—but warned that pivoting now would likely create additional permitting delays.

Public speakers and board members suggested several ways to accelerate the work, including staging construction (building skate features first and deferring utilities/restrooms), local contractor involvement and tapping community donations. Skating advocates said they will continue fundraising and asked the board to keep the community informed; staff said they will continue daily outreach to the restroom vendor and will return to the board with updated timelines.

Next steps: staff will continue to press the restroom manufacturer for flood calculations, maintain permit extension with the county, and update the board when the engineering submittal is accepted by county planners.