By Sherry conohan
Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH — Yielding to budget pressure, the borough will charge $50 per child for its summer recreation program.
The program, which runs from 9 a.m. to noon for six weeks of summer, used to be free.
Councilwoman Janet Tucci reported at the March 19 Borough Council meeting that the Recreation Commission had settled on a charge of $50 per child.
"It doesn’t quite cover the cost," she said. "But we’re going from charging no fee to charging a fee and this is a good place to start."
Tucci said parents in town are used to paying a fee for their children to participate in activities with the West Long Branch Sports Association.
In discussions over several meetings, council members agreed the time had come, with the fiscal constraints the borough is working under today, to charge a fee for the recreation program.
Borough Attorney Gregory S. Baxter advised the governing body that the fee should be adopted by ordinance.
Councilman Joseph DeLisa reported to the council that he would be meeting with the contractor the next day about making the cut-through from Valenzano Park to Dr. Brian Woolley’s parking lot, which will be used for overflow parking from the park.
He said an opening has to be made in the park fence for people to pass through and a concrete sidewalk, with a ramp for handicapped accessibility, has to be built to connect the parking lot with the park, a distance of about 20 feet.
DeLisa said his goal is to have the work done in time for the doctor’s parking lot, which has approximately 60 parking spaces, to be available for the baseball season.
He said the overflow parking space is needed mostly on Saturdays and Woolley doesn’t have office hours on Saturdays.
DeLisa said the doctor is making his parking lot available to the borough at no cost.
In turn, he said, it is hoped this will eliminate park-goers parking along the driveway into Valenzano Park, which lies right next to Woolley’s home on Wall Street, which he said is unsightly to the Woolleys and clogs traffic going into the park.
Two residents in the vicinity of Valenzano Park brought complaints about it before the council.
Frank Cocco, of Barbizon Court, complained about out-of-towners using the fields while Jon Berrian, of Coolidge Place, expressed concern about the new lights for the park.
Borough Police Chief John Demaree told the council police had received a complaint about people using the park without a permit, so a couple of officers were dispatched to check the situation out and found a group from Long Branch engaged in a pick-up game of soccer.
He said they knew the permit system hadn’t been instituted yet, so did nothing.
But he asked for direction from the council on what to do in the future in such instances.
Tucci, who oversees recreation, said if it’s an organized activity and they do it every week, they need a permit.
Demaree said it’s not an organized league but they are there fairly regularly.
"They don’t pay fees, they don’t have uniforms, they just kick the ball around," he told the council.
Baxter, the borough attorney, said he didn’t see any problem.
"It’s a public park," he noted.
DeLisa asked if that meant anyone could use the park without a permit or insurance while the borough is making the West Long Branch Sports Association have both.
But Councilman William J. Boglioli said that if people in a spontaneous game are thrown out of the park, that would bring officials of the state Green Acres program down on the borough because it insists on public access.
Berrian expressed concern about the tall lights installed at Valenzano Park, which have not gone into use yet.
Berrian said he wasn’t home when the lights were tested, but said the lights needed correction, as they were lighting up residences instead of the field.
Borough Clerk Lori Cole said the borough had been waiting for the bad weather to pass before Musco Sports Lighting Inc., of Farmingdale, was asked to return to the park to make the adjustments so that the lights are properly directed.