With temperatures rising and falling throughout the 2013 holiday season, the Pella Police Department reminds skaters and ice fishers to be smart on the ice this winter. Lt. Shane Cox says that temperatures have been cold enough recently to skate at Sunken Gardens, but earlier in December there were reports of families on the ice with patches of water visible. Cox adds that when the top layer of solid ice melts and then refreezes, it loses all of it’s strength and can create safety problems.