By John Burton |
RED BANK – Not everyone thinks a West Side park at the borough’s former dumpsite is a good idea.
“I don’t understand the logic of putting a park where there’s been contamination for over a hundred years,” said lifelong Red Bank resident Richard Ashton as he addressed borough officials concerning the proposal.
Ashton’s comment set the tone for a number of speakers who attended the informal town hall-like meeting held on Friday, May 12, at the Masonic Celestial Lodge 36, 141 Drs. James Parker Blvd. There was concern expressed by a number of speakers about the contamination at the site of the proposed park, as borough officials offered the defense of this and other projects.
“I have two words for you,” Ashton told the panel of officials on hand: “Love Canal.” Ashton was referring to what became the infamous upstate New York area marked by environmental pollution that contributed to health issues for many of its area’s residents for years.
The approximately 8 1/2-acre property overlooking the Swimming River the borough owns on West Sunset Avenue for decades had been the site of the municipality’s trash landfill and incinerator. The incinerator was shut down in the 1980s, at the insistence of Environmental Protection (DEP). With some financial support from the DEP, the incinerator’s smokestack was demolished in 2009. Officials have long discussed using the property to establish a park for the recreationally underserved West Side community. Last month, officials held a public input session where they sought guidance on what the community would like to see on the property.
RED BANK – Not everyone thinks a West Side park at the borough’s former dumpsite is a good idea.
“I don’t understand the logic of putting a park where there’s been contamination for over a hundred years,” said lifelong Red Bank resident Richard Ashton as he addressed borough officials concerning the proposal.
Ashton’s comment set the tone for a number of speakers who attended the informal town hall-like meeting held on Friday, May 12, at the Masonic Celestial Lodge 36, 141 Drs. James Parker Blvd. There was concern expressed by a number of speakers about the contamination at the site of the proposed park, as borough officials offered the defense of this and other projects.
“I have two words for you,” Ashton told the panel of officials on hand: “Love Canal.” Ashton was referring to what became the infamous upstate New York area marked by environmental pollution that contributed to health issues for many of its area’s residents for years.
The approximately 8 1/2-acre property overlooking the Swimming River the borough owns on West Sunset Avenue for decades had been the site of the municipality’s trash landfill and incinerator. The incinerator was shut down in the 1980s, at the insistence of Environmental Protection (DEP). With some financial support from the DEP, the incinerator’s smokestack was demolished in 2009. Officials have long discussed using the property to establish a park for the recreationally underserved West Side community. Last month, officials held a public input session where they sought guidance on what the community would like to see on the property.
Borough Councilman Erik Yngstrom, who chairs the council’s Parks and Recreation Committee, told the audience “We’d like to hear what the public would like to see.”
The ultimate goal, said borough administrator Stanley Sickels, is to “clean it up and make it more useful for the neighborhood.”
The ultimate goal, said borough administrator Stanley Sickels, is to “clean it up and make it more useful for the neighborhood.”
Phillip Rock said he’s been living in the borough for 64 years and is familiar with the site, having worked there in years past. “There were so many rats there we had to use a firehose to blast them out of there,” Rock remembered. He also alleged there were toxins and dead pets that had been disposed of there. “That ground is not safe,” he charged. “It’ll never be safe.”
Officials have said the site requires remediation, and would have to continue to undergo testing and extensive capping with concrete and clean soil before the DEP would allow local officials to entertain any public use.
Officials have said the site requires remediation, and would have to continue to undergo testing and extensive capping with concrete and clean soil before the DEP would allow local officials to entertain any public use.
“I know the council is committed to something safe” for the location, Sickels stressed.
“We’re not going to build anything that’s not safe,” Yngstrom responded.
The meeting was organized by borough resident Freddie Boynton. Boynton is a retired borough employee who had spent nearly 30 years working for the Department of Public Utilities. Boynton is also well known to borough officials, as he regularly raises issues with them and, as a borough employee, had brought lawsuits and raised allegations by way of formal union grievances about discriminatory treatment by his supervisors and other officials.
Boynton told the officials and the largely African-American audience, “You know what it is. They want to buy us out.” He charged that this proposed park is intended to give West Side residents an inadequate alternative so officials can continue to allow paying entities to use Count Basie Park, off Drs. James Parker Boulevard, and the only active recreational area close to the West Side.
“We’re not going to build anything that’s not safe,” Yngstrom responded.
The meeting was organized by borough resident Freddie Boynton. Boynton is a retired borough employee who had spent nearly 30 years working for the Department of Public Utilities. Boynton is also well known to borough officials, as he regularly raises issues with them and, as a borough employee, had brought lawsuits and raised allegations by way of formal union grievances about discriminatory treatment by his supervisors and other officials.
Boynton told the officials and the largely African-American audience, “You know what it is. They want to buy us out.” He charged that this proposed park is intended to give West Side residents an inadequate alternative so officials can continue to allow paying entities to use Count Basie Park, off Drs. James Parker Boulevard, and the only active recreational area close to the West Side.
The football field at Count Basie Park is owned by the borough Board of Education and is used for a fee by the Red Bank Catholic football team; other park fields are used by organized leagues and local public school teams. Red Bank Catholic had also agreed to contribute $500,000 over a 10-year period to cover the cost of installing an AstroTurf artificial surface for the football field.
“We’re not going to be pushed off by Red Bank Catholic,” Boynton said.
Sickels took issue with Boynton’s characterization. Sickels said he coached Pop Warner and T-ball teams when his own kids were growing up. He maintained it’s about equity for the community. “The first thing is the safety of the community,” he said. “The second is to make something we can be proud of.”
There had been talk about searching for grants and constructing a modest West Side playground at the site of the borough-owned Locust Landing nature area, at the western end of Locust Avenue. The nature area had been left unattended for years, becoming trash-laden, overgrown with weeds and with the homeless using the area as an ersatz campground. Officials had considered having a small spray park feature there to allow neighborhood youngsters to cool off on hot summer days. That feature became characterized in the community as a waterpark with residents voicing objections to it. Officials ultimately backed off the plan.
Sickels took issue with Boynton’s characterization. Sickels said he coached Pop Warner and T-ball teams when his own kids were growing up. He maintained it’s about equity for the community. “The first thing is the safety of the community,” he said. “The second is to make something we can be proud of.”
There had been talk about searching for grants and constructing a modest West Side playground at the site of the borough-owned Locust Landing nature area, at the western end of Locust Avenue. The nature area had been left unattended for years, becoming trash-laden, overgrown with weeds and with the homeless using the area as an ersatz campground. Officials had considered having a small spray park feature there to allow neighborhood youngsters to cool off on hot summer days. That feature became characterized in the community as a waterpark with residents voicing objections to it. Officials ultimately backed off the plan.
“It’s obvious 99 percent of the people who live over there don’t want it,” borough resident Lillian Settles said of the Sunset park idea, with Settles asking officials to reconsider it.
“I think the focus has to be in the cleanup,” Mayor Pasquale Menna answered Settles. The borough will receive DEP funding to remediate the property to ensure it is safe and then consider proposals for its future use, the mayor explained.
“This is the first real opposition we heard this year,” on the park idea, Sickels said, noting there will be further and public discussions about the site’s future.
The idea of a park on that property has support, with the Monmouth Conservation Foundation offering its assistance with a fundraiser was held a week ago to help offset costs.
“I think the focus has to be in the cleanup,” Mayor Pasquale Menna answered Settles. The borough will receive DEP funding to remediate the property to ensure it is safe and then consider proposals for its future use, the mayor explained.
“This is the first real opposition we heard this year,” on the park idea, Sickels said, noting there will be further and public discussions about the site’s future.
The idea of a park on that property has support, with the Monmouth Conservation Foundation offering its assistance with a fundraiser was held a week ago to help offset costs.
This article was first published in the May 18-25, 2017 print edition of The Two River Times.
