Palmerton hasn’t given up on the possible formation of a skate park in an attempt to curtail vandalism in its borough park.

Councilman Andrew Hollywood told resident Raberta Hans Thursday “we continue to explore options.”

Hans asked who owns the field in front of the Palmerton Pool where the ball field is.

Borough Manager Donna McGarry said it’s borough property, and they lease it to the Palmerton Memorial Park Association.

Hans said there should be some sort of funding available for a skate park.

McGarry said she reached out to the Tony Hawk Foundation, and added she believes an area where there are lots of activities going on is the ideal setting for a skate park.

Hans said she’d like to encourage the borough to continue to explore that avenue.

“We have to provide something for the kids to do,” Hans said. “These kids need something to go to that’s already established.”

Councilwoman Holly Hausman-Sell said they are still exploring some alternative options.

“We have to really explore the pros and cons of it,” Hausman-Sell said. “We continue to think about that and try to come up with ideas.”

However, Hausman-Sell said it has to be the right location, so that the youth are safe.

“I don’t want to put them somewhere where they’re vulnerable,” she said.

Hausman-Sell reassured that the matter remains a subject of conversation.

“It’s not fallen to the wayside,” she said. “There are many of us still exploring.”

Hausman-Sell encouraged residents to feel free to keep sending ideas.

Resident Clare Papay said her kids are younger, and that she travels 30 to 40 minutes to take them to skate parks, because they enjoy them.

“It’s (a skate park) really for the full-age range,” Papay said. “There’s funding available; lots of us are willing to help.”

Hans said she doesn’t believe a skate park would be an issue in the borough, since it’s such a close-knit community.

“I have a lot of faith for the people of this community,” she said. “They really come together.”

Hollywood said at May’s council meeting that he and McGarry previously attended a recreational committee meeting.

He said part of the discussion centered on adding a skate park, but that the issue is finding a suitable location, with the Seventh Street Field perhaps chief among them.

McGarry concurred at that time that the Seventh Street Field may be the most ideal fit for a skate park.

Also at that time, Hollywood said that other potential locations could include the Elmer Valo Field, the west side of town, and Third and Franklin.

However, resident Marj Federanich said she believes more public input is necessary, and Hausman-Sell asked whether they should be surveying the community’s youth.

Federanich said that about six or seven kids said they would like to see a skate park, when they were asked what they would like to see in the borough.

Council President Terry Costenbader at that time suggested that the committee come back with a recommendation to council.

In April, Federanich suggested the potential creation of a skate park due to vandalism that occurred to the benches and the bandstand with skateboards.

McGarry noted that per borough code, bicycle riding and skateboards are among the activities prohibited in the bandstand.