MIDDLETOWN — In response to a growing trend, officials have sanctioned spending open space tax funds on the building of a skate park.
According to Township Administrator Robert Czech, the issue arose at neighborhood meetings and culminated in the township’s putting an ordinance on the table approving spending $165,000 from the open space trust fund for the park, to be located on a now vacant 1.08-acre tract on Pulsch Avenue in the Port Monmouth section of town. The township will purchase the land from its present owner, Cavadas Realty.
"There’s a definite need for such a park," said Czech. "We heard it from residents at the neighborhood meetings, received letters and calls about the growing need. Kids want to have a place to skate (board). They’re going to continue to do it wherever they can, including in the streets and parking lots. Building the park will only benefit residents and kids’ safety."
Czech went on to say that officials are looking at other parks to assess what type of facility will work best. "We’re going to look at other skate parks to get an idea of what will be most feasible. For instance, there’s a nice park in Belmar we’d like to visit."
Despite a rising popularity of skate-boarding as a sport, some have maintained that monitoring such a park would be difficult and would result in unsafe practices, such as kids not wearing protective gear, and accidents.
Czech said township officials are not concerned about those ramifications of a park, citing that other sports come with inherent dangers, as well. He said that if the park is not built, a more unsafe situation may arise due to an abundance of kids skate-boarding in unprotected public areas.
The public hearing on the ordinance took place Aug. 6, and though verbal agreement on the ordinance was noted, the official vote will be Aug. 20, Czech said.
Czech noted that the funds from the open space tax that will be used for the park can be replaced by state Green Acres funds, the township intends to seek, at a later date. If, and when, the township is allotted a matching grant, outright grant or low interest loan from Green Acres, the open space funds will be replenished, Czech concluded.
The open space funds can be used for acquisition of the park because recreation is an open space endeavor.