Cumberland BMX track will be knocked down immediately

CUMBERLAND – Plans for an immediate attack on the 20-year-old BMX bike track on the Monastery grounds began Monday, during a meeting in the woods with Mayor Bill Murray, just days after Town Council members voted 5 to 2 to knock it down.

Despite a strong push for more time by Councilors Scott Schmitt and Jim Scullin, the majority of Town Council members ordered the move to tear down the track after deciding the town can’t risk the liability it represents.

BMX enthusiasts who built it, along with members of the Monastery Preservation Alliance, filled most of the council chamber last Wednesday to hear the executive director of Cumberland’s insurer, the Rhode Island Interlocal Trust, explain why it won’t provide coverage if anyone is injured using the track.

Monday, Frank Stowik, supervisor of the Department of Public Works, said a crew of four will get to work first by removing the dozens of tarps stretched over the ramps that cover more than an acre of land in the Monastery’s northeast corner. Rain will begin eroding the earthen mounds, then a mini excavator will be used to finish clearing the land, Stowik said.

If the warm weather holds, it might all be accomplished this year, he said.

The trust’s Ian Ridlon told councilors last week that the track is specifically excluded from the trust’s coverage because, unlike skateboard ramps, it was built without design standards. He noted, too, that the lack of design specifications also means regular inspections aren’t possible.

BMX tracks are “an unreasonable liability” that members of the trust, which is made up of Rhode Island towns and cities pooling their resources, won’t agree to cover. He called it a “hazardous activity.”

Council President Craig Dwyer arrived last Wednesday certain that the track must be closed down, as Murray has advocated for the past month after he exhausted all efforts to find alternative coverage. It was Murray who brought the track to public attention in June after getting a tip that it was built near the northeast corner, not far from the site proposed for the public safety complex.

Dwyer told councilors Wednesday, “I’m not going to sit here for taxpayers of this town and put them at more risk. The more we talk, it’s got to be making us more liable.

“It’s an engineering marvel. It’s spectacular,” he conceded.

Then he asked his fellow councilors, “If this were your property, what would you do? What would you do with your property? Now think about this: This is your property, this is our property.”

State Rep. Jim McLaughlin was clear with his thoughts: “Bulldoze the damn thing,” he said. “That’s what we have laws for. It’s just a common sense vote.”

Scullin had a lengthy list of questions for the trust’s Ridlon. But Ridlon didn’t budge from his assertion: “If someone gets hurt, you’re on your own.”

And when Scullin asked how the town can police all 525 acres of the Monastery, Ridlon replied, “The town has certain obligations. If the land is intended to be in a natural state it should be maintained in a natural state. Ultimately you have to stay on top of these things.”

Councilors asked about the smaller bike track the town installed at Diamond Hill Park.

Ridlon said it is covered because it’s built by the town according to specifications.

And about news that Providence is installing a BMX track at Roger Williams Park, Ridlon noted that Providence is self-insured.

Schmitt asked for more time, telling councilors, “I’m interested at arriving at a compromise that not only helps the town, but the bikers.”

His suggestion involved leasing the several acres of track to the individuals provided they can obtain insurance. In the meantime, he said, the track should be fully secured to prevent anyone from using it.

Ridlon noted the town itself couldn’t find outside coverage making it very unlikely an unincorporated group of bikers will.

When Schmitt questioned why a small Colorado town built a similar BMX track, Ridlon replied, “They can take on any risk they want – terrorism, nuclear, asbestos, anything they want. But it’s a risk our board of trustees doesn’t want to accept.”

Attorney Kim McCarthy, speaking for the Monastery Preservation Alliance, said, “As a taxpayer, exposing all of us to liability is inappropriate.” She urged the town to turn over control of the Monastery to an outside conservation group “to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Councilor Bob Shaw was quiet throughout the discussion, finally saying, “Tonight we’ve exhausted the whole liability issue. What’s right is right. We have a responsibility to the citizens of the town not to the 25 people” who created an illegal recreational facility.

In the end, Councilor Art Lambi signaled there was majority support to destroy the track when he asked that the mayor agree to use only the town crews rather than an outside contractor.

The final vote saw Scullin and Schmitt stick to their objections and cast the only no votes.