Next Level Group bows out
By Matt Chiappardi, Staff Writer
HIGHTSTOWN The future of a planned skateboard park in the borough seems to be in limbo.
The Next Level Youth mentoring organization has rescinded its offer to take over the project because, the executive director said, the planned transfer of borough-
administered funds raised for the skate park would come with “too many strings attached.”
“It’s unfortunate, but because off all the strings and all the problems associated with the skate park and collection of skate park funds, we just chose not to get involved at this point,” Keith Jackson, Next Level Youth’s executive director, said Wednesday.
The problem stems from questions raised by members of the Borough Council that the group associated with the project may not have been authorized to raise the $20,000 it has so far and have it deposited into a borough-administered trust fund in the first place.
To address those concerns, Councilwoman Isabel McGinty drafted an agreement between the borough and Next Level Youth under which the mentoring organization would “take on all responsibilities and obligations (for the skate park) past, present and future.”
But Mr. Jackson, whose group offers recreational and other after-school programs for local youth, said language in the agreement raised too many questions for him.
“Just what are those obligations and responsibilities?” Mr. Jackson said. “If we don’t build a skate park, as has been described, is that going to be a problem? Were the funds not collected properly, and if so, would we be liable for that?”
Mr. Jackson went on to say he was unhappy with other language in the agreement that states the borough would not provide any support and guidance for the project.
The Borough Council was scheduled to vote on a resolution approving the agreement at its meeting Monday night but wound up pulling it from the agenda when Rick Pratt the former councilman and present Planning Board member who’s been the driving force behind the skate park announced Next Level Youth’s intentions to bow out.
Mr. Pratt then offered the council a resolution of his own he’d drafted, which stated the borough would transfer the skate park funds to an unnamed nonprofit organization within 30 days.
That, too, was rejected by council.
“This is much too vague. What happens if you don’t find a 501c3 (nonprofit organization) in time?” Councilman Mike Theokas said.
Mr. Pratt asserted that shouldn’t be a problem because, he said, there are 129 nonprofit organizations located in the Hightstown-East Windsor ZIP code. However, he said Monday he didn’t have a particular organization in mind.
Tuesday, Mr. Pratt said he has met with one organization but would not identify it.
He also voiced some frustration with the entire process and particularly with Ms. McGinty.
“She’s making it sound like things were being done against authority, and that’s false,” he said. “It’s frustrating because all we keep trying to do is what is being asked of us, and we keep running into roadblocks.”
“This is something that’s for the good of the kids in town, and it’s become a football. It’s being micro-managed,” he added.
In November, the plan to transfer the skate park funds was delayed because Ms. McGinty and council President Walter Sikorski were concerned the agreement at that time did not sever borough ties with the project strongly enough.
Concerns about the skate park project arose over the summer when council members suggested the public might wrongly think the governing body has endorsed the project because money raised for it is being held in a borough-administered account trust fund.
The council then asked the group behind the skate park effort to spin off into a nonprofit organization of its own or partner with an existing one.
Some members of the council also had concerns about the proposed cost of the project, which Mr. Pratt has said could be up to $1 million.
Nearby skate parks in West Windsor and Robbinsville have cost $200,000 and $121,000 respectively.
Mr. Pratt said Tuesday that he pegged the cost so high because of a $500,000 county grant available for such a project that would require matching funds. Those matching funds, he said, would be raised through donations.
“I’ll repeat, there is no taxpayer money being used for this, except if a taxpayer wishes to donate,” Mr. Pratt said.
mchiappardi@
centraljersey.com