A fresh wave of impassioned voices is pleading for Pemberton not to put the community’s long-awaited skateboard park near the power lines that loom over the selected location on the lot across Cottonwood Street from the new community centre.

The worried residents who spoke at the Village of Pemberton’s annual general meeting and town hall on Tuesday (June 29) called on local officials to reconsider the location for the skateboard park, primarily ringing alarm bells over the issue of health impacts from and suitability of being near the power lines.

But Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy said the site had been identified a number of years ago, and when the Village put the location question and issues to the community in December, 76 per cent of the respondents had no concerns. Sturdy also said the potential health questions were researched and found to be nowhere near as definitive as the concerned residents suggest.

Meanwhile, time now seems to be running short to get the facility built with the grant money that has been awarded.

Sturdy said no extension is possible on the March 2011 deadline that’s looming for completing the park to take advantage of about $230,000 in matching grants from the federal and provincial governments.

“If we don’t get on with building this thing where it’s preloaded right now, it’s not going to happen,” Sturdy told the crowd of about 55 people, citing a recent message from the designer contracted for the skatepark. He said the community now needs to decide whether it wants the park in the chosen location, or not at all at this point.

In four days after a skatepark design meeting last week, a petition calling for the facility to be moved away from the power lines has attracted 497 signatures, Pemberton resident Nada Shureih said at Tuesday’s meeting. That figure includes 286 signatures from Village residents, she added.

“Pioneer Park is what we are proposing as an alternative… It is a beautiful space that is currently being underutilized,” she said, seeking a site that she feels is more sustainable and pleasant for future generations.

A recently formed Facebook group calling for the skatepark to be moved away from the power lines has attracted 339 members and a flurry of comments.

Shureih added that an additional online petition gathered about 87 responses in three days, and only two of those respondents said the location wouldn’t affect whether or notthey would use the facility.

Alongside the passionate appeals for a different location, some residents at Tuesday’s meeting spoke in favour of having the skatepark project proceed as planned. One resident noted that so much work has been done and said the concerns about power lines are minimal for skaters spending a few hours in a day at the site.

Jeff Clarke, one of the longtime volunteers for the skatepark cause, said it’s taken several years to get to this stage, and the society and Village made efforts to seek input. He said he wouldn’t want to see the skatepark project end up like the proposal for a hockey rink.

Sturdy said the Village council will need to grapple with the issue and how to gauge community opinions, and expected to address it at the next council meeting on Tuesday (July 6).

When the Village sought public comments on the question of the skateboard park site and issues in December and January, an online survey drew 32 responses — 23 with no concerns about the spot and nine raising some issues. Five letters of support, including one from the Pemberton Skateboard Society, and five letters of opposition were also received.

The Village council then voted in January to support the building of the park on Lot 12.