Community activist David Prown pressed the Red Bank Borough Council about the apparent lack of progress on starting a community center at the Jan. 26 meeting.
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna said the community center issue would be placed on the agenda for public discussion at one of the upcoming Borough Council meetings.
The proposed center would be located at the Count Basie Learning Center building, 136 Drs. James Parker Blvd.
“I know you guys are tired of hearing my voice. So I really have to ask, What would you like to hear? Would you like me to bring groups of children, groups of parents?” Prown asked the council.
After sending out requests for proposals in October in search of an organization interested in running the center, the borough received responses from the Boys & Girls Club as well as the Community YMCA of Middletown.
After the Community Center Committee, of which Prown was a member, reviewed the proposals, they recommended the borough choose the Boys & Girls Club because it could provide the service at no cost to the borough.
Both organizations broke down costs differently in their proposals to the borough.
The Boys and Girls Club reported a total expense of $345,213.81 to run the center and provided a fee schedule.
The YMCA reported an annual budget of $120,879, with an $88,818 contribution by the borough.
“We have an entity, and please educate me if I’m wrong, who wants to give in excess of $300,000 a year as per their RFP, hire seven to eight people, and not ask for another nickel from the borough, and this is what they do for a living. I’m missing something,” Prown said.
Prown first advocated the need for a community center last year and proposed the borough-owned Count Basie Learning Center as a possible location. But despite support for the center, the borough went ahead with plans to sell the building in August 2007. No bids for the building were received.
The proposal for the community center would include a social area, tutoring, computer technology, college preparation, fine arts, drama, arts and crafts, aerobics, a quiet area for reading and studying, television, and space for karaoke among other things.
Using the Count Basie Learning Center as a community center met with opposition by the owners of an adjacent building, who said at a council meeting in December that it would make it hard to develop their property.
C
ouncilman Michael DuPont, who
chaired the Community Center Committee, said it’s up to the mayor now to bring the issue to the council’s attention.
“The committee for this community center met and responded quickly, and now the mayor just has to decide when he’s going to present it for discussion,” DuPont said.
The next Borough Council meeting is scheduled for Feb. 23 at 90 Monmouth St.