By jane meggitt
Staff Writer
UPPER FREEHOLD — Discussion at last week’s Township Committee meeting ranged from the cleanup of the recent snowstorm, to safety concerns surrounding large events coming up at the Horse Park of New Jersey, to this year’s budget situation.
Mayor William Miscoski praised the Department of Public Works for cleanup efforts during the recent blizzard.
"Because of the [declared] state of emergency," said Miscoski, "I spent quite a lot of time with them. They went for 55 straight hours. We have the best public works department in the state."
Miscoski also warned that parents had to watch out for their kids in potentially dangerous situations during snowstorms.
"Every development you go in, kids have a habit of running down to watch the snowplows go by. Where are the parents? People in the developments need to watch their kids."
He said some children had built a tunnel across a road in their development; had the snowplow operator not told the children to get out of the way of the plow, they would not have told him that another child was in the tunnel. That child, Miscoski said, would have been run over.
In another instance, a parent driving a Suburban had four kids on sleds fastened to the back of the vehicle by ropes, and they were going all over the road in front of the plows. Miscoski said he confronted the man and told him to stop, and the driver gave him a hard time.
New Jersey State Police Lt. Kathleen Devlin, commander of the Hightstown barracks, was at the meeting.
She told Miscoski that if a similar situation arises, to call the police, and they will address the parents if there is a problem.
Stephen Dey, vice president of the Horse Park of New Jersey, told Devlin that, this year, the Horse Park will be hosting three internationally sanctioned shows. Mother’s Day weekend will see a combined driving event at the Horse Park, and on Memorial Day weekend an international dressage competition will be held. A two-star international combined training event will take place in July.
The international aspect "will increase the number of people both working at the shows and spectators," said Dey. "These events will be three or four times as large as in the past."
All events are open to the public.
Dey said he wanted to alert the State Police about the larger volume of traffic and any other issues concerned with the greater influx of people.
Also at the meeting Richard Mackesy, the vice president of strategic planning and business development at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, gave the committee an update on new developments at the hospital.
He previously appeared before the committee about a year ago, when the radiation therapy center was under construction.
It is now open, and "it’s bittersweet," according to Mackesy.
"We far exceeded what we originally planned. Twice as many people have come to the center as planned" for cancer treatments, he said.
Mackesy said he appreciated the support of various communities, and said the hospital planned on expansion to meet the needs of the local area. In addition to the radiation center, a three-story medical arts building has also opened, and the hospital has encouraged physicians with pediatric specialties to practice there.
In addition, he said that a multiple sclerosis center has been started, one of the few in the state, in conjunction with the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Mackesy noted that, previously, MS patients had to travel great distances for care. A spine center and sleep disorder center have also been established.
Plans are also under way to almost double the size of the current emergency room space.
CentraState’s emergency room is the busiest in Monmouth County and the fifth busiest in the state, he said.
"The hospital is relatively full at most times," he said. "We’re looking at other expansions."
Committeeman John Mele suggested that CentraState participate in the official opening of Byron Johnson Park and a fair the Allentown Presbyterian Church is planning in July.
In other business, Township Administrator Barbara Bascom explained that a letter will be sent to state legislators about the issue of a 1 percent cap limitation for a municipal budget.
She said that a municipality cannot go over an index rate of 1 percent, but a growing town like Upper Freehold has additional needs for staff, buildings and services, unlike a town that is not growing.
An ordinance authorizing a 5 percent cap for the 2003 municipal budget is scheduled for introduction at the March 6 committee meeting, along with the introduction of the budget.

