By: Lauren Otis – Staff Writer
Neighbors of Harrison Street Park are pitching in as promised to water the new plantings there but some of them are less than pleased with the color-scheme of the freshly painted basketball court, Princeton Borough Council was told this week.
This spring, Borough Council had threatened to pull the plug on $30,000 worth of perennial plantings in the park because of fears that the Public Works Department did not have the manpower to water them in their first critical months.
Neighbors of the park criticized municipal officials for being short-sighted on a renovation project that cost nearly $500,000, and vowed to water and maintain the plantings if the borough agreed to go ahead with them, which it subsequently did.
"Are we confident the new plants are being watered, and by whom?" Councilman Roger Martindell asked at the council’s Tuesday night meeting.
"The community has begun watering the plantings in the park," said Councilman Andrew Koontz. He said neighbors had been provided with a long hose and watering apparatus and had the ability to open a secure spigot. "They are coming together, they are getting organized," he said.
However, Aiken Avenue resident Christine Graziano said she was unhappy with plantings intended to shield her parkside property, and with the color the court had been painted, a reddish color that she said spoiled the quiet character of the space.
Ms. Graziano said the park’s landscape architect had suggested the borough run the court color by neighbors before using it, but the borough had gone ahead on its own.
Mayor Mildred Trotman said the park issues, including watering of plants and the color of the court, would be taken up at a July 8 Public Works Committee meeting, and a report would be made to Borough Council at its July 13 meeting.
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