By Anthony V. Coppola, Staff Writer
HIGHTSTOWN — A member of the Hightstown Parks and Recreation Commission came before the East Windsor Regional school board this week to answer some of the board’s concerns about a proposed skateboard park in the borough.
Most notably among those concerns was the commission’s desire to utilize students for fundraising before the board’s endorsement of the new complex. But after reviewing a letter from Hightstown Planning Board member Richard Pratt, the prime skateboard park planner, the district gave its endorsement to the student fundraising involvement.
”You have a green light,” Superintendent Ron Bolandi told commission member Stacey Judge. “Go ahead and send in the forms.”
Those forms are fundraising fliers that urge students to enter a $10 contest to design T-shirts and skateboard decks — what a skateboarder stands on — with proceeds going directly to aiding the park’s construction.
”The goal is to get kids involved in designing the boards and T-shirts to give them some ownership in the skatepark plan itself,” Ms. Judge told the board.
The skateboard park plan calls for the use of 40,000 square feet of donated land behind Lucas Electric on Mercer Street. The land is mostly owned by Matt Lucas, with a small portion owned by the school district. Ms. Judge estimated the cost of the project at $150,000 to $250,000 Monday night, and said the commission hopes donations and grants will cover the entire amount.
One of the school board’s questions related to supervision of the park.
Ms. Judge explained that skaters would participate at their own risk, as is the standard policy at many parks across the country. In his letter, Mr. Pratt states the borough’s liability insurance would cover skaters, and that staffing the park would be both costly and negate insurance coverage.
The board’s other concern was designating who could use the park.
Mr. Pratt wrote that the Hightstown Police Department would administer a mandatory safety orientation, which includes a helmet-fitting, safety contract, emergency contact information and a coded helmet sticker. The sticker would signify that each skater has attended the orientation and that a guardian and participant have agreed to all park rules. Violation of the rules could result in a temporary closing of the park, and Mr. Pratt said he hoped this would promote self-policing of the facility.
The park would not be exclusive to residents of the borough and East Windsor however, something the school board had pondered.
”That would be like saying only East Windsor residents could use Etra Park,” Ms. Judge said. “You just can’t do it.”
Lighting of the facility was a cause for concern for board member Bonnie Fayer. The park’s original plans stated the park would not be lit but Mr. Pratt’s letter said light poles may be installed.
”My opinion is the addition of lights would invite kids to hang around the high school property at night, and that creates some liability issues for us,” Ms. Fayer said.
Ms. Judge said if lighting were to become a reality, the commission would have the ability to program them on a timer to discourage loitering.
The commission prefers entrance to the facility to come by way of the northwestern parking lot at the high school, and the school board seemed OK with that. The park is not expected to be open during school hours, and the commission said it would work with the school board to avoid occasional conflicts. The park, which would be bordered by an 8-foot chain-link fence, would tentatively operate from the time of school dismissal to dusk during the school year and dawn to dusk during the summer and on holidays.
Despite this week’s positive step, Mr. Pratt admitted in his letter that the commission is “far from reaching our funding goals.” It’s the commission’s belief that distributing the fliers throughout the school district will raise awareness in the community and take advantage of a critical opportunity to utilize students in fundraising before the school year ends.
With five teenagers — two from East Windsor and three from Hightstown — being charged with defiant trespassing last week for skating on the grounds of the Walter C. Black Elementary School and the February deaths of two Freehold teens in a skateboarding accident in front of their home, Ms. Judge and Mr. Pratt said the need for the park is even more evident.
”A skate park in Hightstown would be a tremendous benefit and safe haven for the youth (and a few skateboarding adults) of our community,” Mr. Pratt wrote.
The Borough Council and the Police Department have expressed support for the project.
”These kids are just out there trying to participate in a sport they love,” Ms. Judge said. “No one picks up the kids having a catch at Etra Park after hours. They just need a place to go and we think this is a way to do that.”
