Real and mock borough
councils on same path
By Sherry conohan
Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH — An eighth-grade student participating in Youth Government Day as a member of the Borough Council proposed developing a path between the Frank Antonides School fields and nearby Sorrentino Park — and learned the mayor was already working on it.
Peter D’Arcangelo proposed the path in his presentation at a mock council meeting in front of the real members and said it could be used for cross-country meets, and by the field hockey and soccer teams to get to Sorrentino Park.
He said the connector would also provide teachers with another teaching device at Sorrentino Park and would benefit parents who could quickly make the trip from watching one child playing in a game at the school fields to seeing another child playing a game in Sorrentino Park.
D’Arcangelo reported that about 300 feet of underbrush growth in the path’s proposed route would have to be cleared out, and he priced the cost with a local landscaping company at $750. He said it would also have to be determined if any of the land is privately owned.
After completion of the presentations, accompanied by charts and photographs and a video, with all the students playing the role of council members, Mayor Paul Zambrano raised his hand from the audience to say he was already looking into the possibility of developing such a path.
Zambrano said there are some Green Acres and wetlands issues associated with the proposed project, but Nancy Tighe, who is responsible for publicity for the school, was doing some research into them.
Tighe later said she went to the Web site of the state Department of Environmental Protection and got the forms to submit to apply for being able to develop the site if it is wetlands.
She said the question of whether any of the land is privately owned remains an open issue.
Joining D’Arcangelo on the mock council were Michael Hendricks, who filled the role of mayor; Christopher Boglioli, son of Councilman William J. Boglioli; Charlotte Goldfine; Carly Lagrotteria; Timothy Lee; and Alexandra Marchese.
Lee chose to tackle traffic problems in his presentation, focusing on the intersections of Wall Street with Monmouth Road and Monmouth Road with Locust and Cedar avenues.
He proposed solutions to ease the problems. He also had some harsh words for Shore Regional High School students who speed to school, setting a bad example for their schoolmates.
Lagrotteria focused on beautification of the borough by spiffing up the strip malls and shops. He suggested the owners could be encouraged to participate through a tax credit given over five years.
Marchese urged that more cultural events and activities be held in the borough, bolstered by a poll that found that all 10 of the 10 people questioned felt there were not enough of them.
Goldfine would like to see a recreation center established to provide a place for boys and girls to go without their parents driving them, which would be an alternative to going to the mall or the movies. She knew just the spot, too — the vacant land behind the new borough hall.
Boglioli tackled sanitation. He proposed the borough change to an automated garbage truck system which would take only one driver instead of three per truck to collect garbage. He used Eatontown, which just switched to an automated system with borough-distributed barrels, as an example.
"We are truly proud of West Long Branch," he concluded. "It’s a great place to grow up."