By JACQUELINE DURETT
Correspondent
SAYREVILLE — Two Democrats on the Borough Council have strongly advocated for moving ahead with plans for a splash park, but Mayor Kennedy O’Brien clearly is not in agreement.
The issue first came up during the Sept. 26 meeting when Council President Daniel Buchanan, as part of his recreation report, requested authorization to have engineering firm CME Associates to move forward with a plan for a splash park at Bailey Park.
A preliminary estimate for constructing the park put the cost at a half million dollars and an additional $50,000 in engineering fees for CME’s work. Buchanan recommended moving ahead with CME’s portion, but O’Brien was not in favor of moving ahead just yet.
“I’m not really thinking this is such a good idea at this time,” O’Brien said, adding that he felt the borough had other priorities.
However, Councilwoman Victoria Kilpatrick said she supported the project, and she and O’Brien debated the issue, with each maintaining they were representing what residents want. Kilpatrick said she has heard from many residents who want more recreation opportunities; O’Brien said he has heard from those who want lower taxes.
O’Brien said he also was not sure residents would want a park that would be open to anyone, resident or not, as the site is a Green Acres property. He recalled that in years past, residents in the Morgan section did not want direct access through their neighborhood to Raritan Bay Waterfront Park, which is located in Sayreville, but because residents did not want other people using their neighborhood as a cut through, the park is accessible through South Amboy.
O’Brien said he would want to know if residents want the borough to invest in such a facility, especially when there is a section of the aquatic center at the borough’s Center for Lifelong Learning for young children.
Kilpatrick countered that the Center for Lifelong Learning does not have a splash park and is not free to residents.
“Nothing is free, Vicki,” O’Brien countered, adding that residents would be the ones picking up the bill for a splash park.
Kilpatrick also said she has seen significant demand on social media to pursue a splash park.
“There’s an awful lot of residents who want this,” she said, pointing out that other towns, such as Colts Neck, Carteret and Monroe, offer this amenity. “It would be nice to provide things for parents and for children, a safe place for them to go and enjoy the water without having to pay any type of fee whether you deem it inexpensive or not.”
Buchanan pointed out that the project made it to the council level because the recreation advisory board unanimously voted to move forward with the preliminary work around the project. He added that the board is comprised off a broad cross-section of residents, including parents and people who are not parents.
Buchanan also said the $50,000 is already in the budget earmarked for park upgrades and added there may be grants and county funding available to offset the costs. However, until a preliminary plan is in place, none of those funds can be pursued.
“There’s a lot of options out there,” he said, “but until we have the actual plans in place and know exactly what we’re looking at, we can’t ask for any of that.”
O’Brien, however, was not convinced.
“I’m not getting any indication that any taxpayer in Sayreville wants to pay more for anything,” he said. “As a matter of fact, they’re a little annoyed that we’re not putting enough into the parks that we have; why are we making a new one?”
He said the soccer fields need improvements, and there are streets that need curbs and sidewalks. Those projects, he countered, would better benefit from that money.
He recommended the issue become a ballot question so residents understand how much of a tax increase might be tied to it.
In the end, council members, except for Art Rittenhouse, voted to move the matter to the next meeting’s consent agenda for a vote on whether or not to spend the $50,000.