NORTH BRUNSWICK — The decision to construct a skate park in town has been in limbo because of the budget constraints forced upon the township.
Nick Molnar, a teenager who has been requesting that the town build an area where skateboarders, rollerbladers, bicyclists and scooters can go without fear of being targeted by police, asked for a status update at the Sept. 22 council workshop meeting.
Lou Ann Benson, the director of the Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Services, said that the Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee has had ongoing discussions about the design, cost and location of a possible skate park.
Yet Councilman Bob Davis said that the biggest issue holding the township back is the tight municipal budget, which officials want to move forward with without forcing employee layoffs.
“My older son, who’s 33, used to skateboard around here all the time,” said Davis, who said he was sympathetic to the wishes of the township youth, “but our main concern this year in this budget was saving positions in the township, somebody losing their job.”
However, Nick’s father Robert also spoke, saying that there is no other place nearby for kids to skateboard. He said that East Brunswick and South Brunswick are both miles away, and the purpose is for kids to get to a park without their parents having to drive them.
He also said that skating allows teens to “express themselves” without having to dodge police.
“It happens to be a sport that is not a traditional type of sport … but so many kids out there want to do it,” Robert Molnar Jr. said.
At a council meeting last December, several township teens presented the board with a petition with over 500 signatures asking for a skating area, especially since they reported that a series of arrests were made for trespassing. Valerie Molnar, who is Nick’s mother, along with fellow parent Melissa Constantinou, had given plan, estimate and insurance information to the Recreation Department earlier this year.
Valerie Molnar said she was told by the county parks department that a skate park is not an option at the new county park that will border Milltown and North Brunswick because the county will not allow it. However, she said North Brunswick could have and should have applied for grant funds for the Community Park.
In the meantime, Davis said that it’s difficult to disappoint children “because we’re all parents,” so council President Cathy Nicola suggested either sharing services with the neighboring Brunswick towns or perhaps looking into having a shuttle transport skaters to other town parks.
Benson said the advisory committee will look into all of the available options.
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