By Allison Perrine
MONMOUTH COUNTY – As more people spend time outside in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, several Two River area towns are seeking county grants to upgrade their local parks.
Through Monmouth County’s Municipal Open Space Grant program, municipalities can apply for 50-50 matching grant funding to complete projects such as land acquisition, park and recreation development projects and other open space purposes. The program is administered by the county park system on behalf of the Board of Chosen Freehold- ers. Each year, the freeholders allocate $2 million from the annual Monmouth County Open Space Trust Fund for the projects.
In 2019 in the Two River area, municipalities including Little Silver, Middletown, Red Bank and Tinton Falls received open space funding. Now, Sea Bright, Oceanport and Highlands are looking to join the list for 2020.
SEA BRIGHT
Sea Bright wants to continue the work on Shrewsbury Riverfront Park at 960 Ocean Ave. The first phase was conducted with a county open space grant and the latest application will include the second phase of work for a total of $160,000.
According to borough administrator Joseph Verruni, the next phase of work will include plantings, a gazebo and an irrigation system. The $160,000 total will be funded by up to $80,000 in a county open space grant and $80,000 by the borough. Verruni added that the Monmouth Conser vation Foundation is tr ying to help fundraise for the borough’s portion of the project to get the work done.
Plans have not changed much since the project was introduced to the council earlier this year. However, according to Frank Lawrence, administrative assistant for special projects, plans for a fence along Ocean Avenue have been added as per recommendations by the borough’s risk management team.
“Anything else is very minor in terms of any changes to it,” he said.
During the public comment portion of a recent hearing, resident Erwin Bieber thanked the mayor, council and others involved in this project and called the plans “absolutely beautiful.”
“I think this park is going to be a tremendous asset to the town. It’s one of the first things you see when you come into Sea Bright,” said Bieber. “We very much appreciate it and all involved, I think, should be very proud of the outcome of this.”
He asked if the planned replacement of the adjacent Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge would impact the park. Lawrence said the replacement work is still a few years away, but once it begins about a third of the park closest to the bridge will be used as a staging area. The county will be required to return it to the existing state it found it in and to improve the bulkhead, however.
Lawrence added that the borough has done a few things to ensure the plans will come out the way they want them to and that the land where the current bridge lands will later become an addition to the park. There will be about six months of disruption to it, but it will be fenced off, he said. “We’ll actually benefit from it although we will have a period of time where we don’t have full access to the park.”
OCEANPORT
The Borough of Oceanport wants to make improvements to its Community Center Park at 8 Iroquois Ave. Officials are moving for ward with an open space application for $175,000, with the project estimated to cost $350,342.
The planned work will include the enhancement of the existing ball field, renovation work for the parking lot, replacement of the tennis court fence, accessible walkways, curbing and landscaping for recreation. According to a presentation made at a Sept. 3 council meeting, the ball field backstop is in disrepair and the field has drainage, erosion and grading issues. Its team benches and bleaches are also in disrepair and in need of ADA accessibility, and a foul ball fence is needed.
Mayor Jay Coffey said this project has been “a long time coming” and that it has “always a problematic field.” The infield specifically is hard to play on with or without rain as it currently exists, he said.
“Water drains off into the street taking most of the good softball dirt away with it,” said Coffey. “We’ve got to start setting money aside for maintenance on a yearly basis to maintain the parks. It’s one thing to make them nice; then you’ve gotta follow up.”
HIGHLANDS
Recently, the Highlands Borough Council approved a resolution to move forward with an application for open space improvements to Huddy Park. Plans for the park, which borders Bay and Waterwitch avenues and Shore Drive, include a nearly 30-foot gazebo at the center with perimeter landscaping, a new playground facility on a rubber surface, bike racks, walkways, various benches and water fountain improvements.
The estimated cost is $500,000, and the county could pay up to $250,000 through its open space grant program. The other half would be covered by the borough. Should a reduced amount be awarded, officials will likely opt to complete the project in phases.
This article was originally published in the Sept. 10-16 issue of The Two River Times.
