News, Weather and Sports for Sioux City, IA: KCAU-TV.comCouncil Suggests Sledding Could Be Banned in Parks

Council Suggests Sledding Could Be Banned in Parks

Could sledding be outlawed in Sioux City?

it might be an option after a lawsuit against the city... And continued complaints about safety.

At this week's city council meeting, council members approved a close to 500–thousand dollar settlement for a man who was parlayed in a sledding accident.

In 2008 David Rosalez was sledding at Sertoma Park when he slid backwards into a sign.

That sign has since been removed, but Rosalez's attorney, who was at Monday's meeting, says the city isn't doing enough to keep others safe.

"You still have a road at the bottom of that hill. How long is it going to be before some child jets out into that roadway after coming down the hill and unfortunately it could have the same circumstance where a car comes down there at the same time," said Bob Tiefenthaler.

There are only two places approved for sledding in town: Grandview Park and Sertoma Park.

One option council members discussed was banning sledding all together.

"I don't think it's a great idea but we have to come up with some idea to make it safer and if it comes down to it, that's what we're going to have to do – we're just going to have to either ban sledding or find a place that going to be safer and enforce it," said Council Member Rhonda Capron.

"You have to take steps to protect people. The city council seems to be of the idea that, well, we just have to ban sledding or we need to have a sledding bill that releases us from any liability. It doesn't have to be one extreme or the other," said Tiefenthaler.

The council hasn't made any formal recommendations about the future of sledding as of yet.

Tiefenthaler suggests instead installing some sort of safe barrier at the bottom of sledding hills.