Wheels in motion on South Brunswick skate park
Township Council discusses possible funding options
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

If all goes according to plan, South Brunswick could soon have a new skate park.

During the Township Council's meeting Tuesday night, resident Joanne Moore presented the council with a 227-signature petition asking that a skate park be built somewhere in the township.

"South Brunswick should have a skate park so that our children can practice their chosen sport more close to home," Moore said during the meeting's public portion.

According to Moore, there are more copies, complete with their own set of signatures, floating around town, though it has been difficult to gather them due to people being on vacation. She and her husband, Christopher, have been working for the past two months on the petitions to get the park built.

Moore's son, Kyle, 13, skateboards and has friends who do so as well. She said that there is a real demand for a skate park closer to their homes.

"There's just a need for it, for where kids can go, and there's no place for them to go. ... We always had to travel to Morristown, Sayreville or Edison before," she said.

The council seemed receptive to the idea, though there were concerns about the safety of people who use the park, as well as potential legal liabilities should someone hurt themselves on it.

"My biggest concern is the health and welfare of the children," said Mayor Frank Gambatese.

Councilman Chris Killmurray, who is a lawyer, noted that municipalities tend to actually have more leeway when it comes to liability, however.

"This gives us a better chance if, God forbid, someone gets hurt," said Killmurray.

He said that the possibility of a skate park has been talked about on and off for a number of years, though he feels that now would be a good time to act, a sentiment echoed during the meeting.

"Now is the ideal time to develop this, when we're not paving roads, not plowing streets, before the snow comes. What I'd like to do is get this done as soon as we can," said Township Manager Matthew Watkins.

According to Watkins, the park can be enclosed with fencing left over from when the township did work on Route 522, and the asphalt can be laid down by public works. After that, the only component needed is the actual equipment itself, which is ordered in a similar manner to playground gear. It was suggested during the meeting that perhaps the skateboarders who would use the park would be able to suggest what to buy, provided they can stay within budget.

"The thought is to let the recreation department and the rec board solicit input from those that are interested in providing input, ideally the kids that do the skateboarding, and give some recommendations. Give them a budget and you can buy this piece and that piece and that piece and basically whatever, as long as it totals up to the amount of money, and start it," said Watkins.

The budget of the project and how to fund it was a topic of discussion with many different possibilities suggested. One idea was to get corporate sponsorship from local companies to pay for the park. Another was to use money from the open space trust fund. A third possibility was asking the county for assistance.

"In my opinion, this will come to South Brunswick, but I want it treated like we treat any other recreational facility in town, which is at no cost," said Deputy Mayor Carol Barrett.

Councilman Joe Camarota brought up that Woodlot Park is already undergoing a large number of improvements and that perhaps the skate park could be placed there during this latest round.

Parks and Recreation Director Tom Morris said that as far as supervision goes, it might be prudent to have a park ranger stop by every so often to make sure things are safe, as opposed to hiring someone to sit there for six hours at a time.

He also said that the skate park would be between 8,000 and 10,000 square feet. According to Morris, the Parks and Recreation department feels "reasonably comfortable" that it would be complete by the end of the year.

Moore said that she was excited to see the government moving on this proposal and that it was a good lesson for how change can happen if people will act.

"I think it's definitely a positive for the township, and the kids get to see how the government works and to show the kids that they have a voice, and that if they come together as a group instead of complaining, that if they're passionate and do something positive, that they can accomplish a lot," Moore said.