Request for loan tabled (01/24/06)

oriented activities in the community, especially for teen-agers, was among the topics discussed by city council Monday.

The council, asked to loan $6,000 to a Portland man who hopes to open an amusement/arcade business on the second floor in a downtown building, tabled action on the matter until questions about accessibility and safety can be addressed.

Mike Roysden of Portland has asked for the $6,000 loan from a city community rehabilitation fund to help launch the new business, which would offer pool, air hockey and ping pong. The business would occupy the second floor of a building which currently houses Bev’s Quality Consignment Store on the first floor at 129 S. Main St. — just north of city hall.

Roysden said he intends to spend $4,000 of his own money on the project.

Mayor Sam Hubbard said Monday the concept for the project was good, but questioned if the building could meet all necessary fire, construction and Americans with Disabilities Act codes for such a business.

There is a narrow stairway in the front leading upstairs and only a fire escape exit in the back, Hubbard said.

“I really think we need a little more information,” Hubbard said. Councilmen Jim Doughty and Craig Faulkner added, “A lot more information.”

“I don’t want to discourage any new businesses, but we don’t want to put anyone’s safety in jeopardy,” the mayor said.

The matter was tabled pending more study.

Also discussed and later tabled was a request to establish a skate park in the city. The idea has come before the council before, and three young men asked if there had been any progress made in this direction.

Lack of funds is the main roadblock, Hubbard said, adding that estimates for a good skateboard park are in the vicinity of $150,000.

The mayor said that Dunkirk’s finances are tight, and he didn’t want to give anyone false hopes. “If you guys can come up with someone to provide the money, we would be glad to do it,” Hubbard said.

In other business at Monday’s meeting council member Craig Faulkner was unanimously re-elected to serve as council president for the year. In the absence of the mayor Faulkner will chair council meetings.

Also Mayor Hubbard and several of the other council members noted that former Dunkirk mayor and civic leader Jack Mink had died last week in Indianapolis at the age of 89.

Mink served as mayor from 1980 to 1988, and later as a Jay County commissioner. He was a Republican and former plant manager at what is now Saint-Gobain Containers plant in Dunkirk.

Hubbard said that he had known Mink for many years. “Jack was a terrific guy, and he did a heck of a job as mayor for eight years,” Hubbard said.[[In-content Ad]]