Update: The Parks

I went to last night's council meeting and thanked Fred Henry for heading up the parks' issue. His inquires to Mr. Lanza, city attorney, has resulted in a waiver. I haven't actually seen it, but he assured me during the week that one is in the works.

Fred and his wife also checked out the parks and got a bird's eye view of the broken equipment. As of right now the city hasn't applied for any grants or funding. The city's business administrator, Mrs. Tooker, said that she is looking into funding through the county. Mrs. Tooker didn't agree with my opinion on the parks, she felt that they weren't in bad shape, but I guess in life it depends where your standards are. I just personally feel that broken equipment with jagged edges is a safety hazard to small children. She also said that it would cost $500,000 to fix the parks.

I personally find that number hard to believe, but that would be a difference in opinion.

I offered a few suggestions at last night's meeting on how the parks could be rehabilitated through community volunteers as well as private grants and fund raising. I have been in contact with a few non-profit community groups who have already done park rebuilds in other towns in New Jersey for a fraction of the cost Mrs. Tooker stated.

Towns like Hopewell managed to build two beautiful parks with the $109,000 they raised as a community. The purpose of this project is to replace the broken equipment and fix the grounds so that the children can play in a safe environment. The goal is to involve the community so that we can all share in the experience and not burst our city's budget.

If you are interested in learning more about this project please e-mail me at southamboyparks@gmail.com

Volunteers Needed:
Grant research/writing
Fund raising and planning
Establishing a non-profit 501(C)3
Focus group members

Below Hopewell Park ($109,000) raised by volunteers through private grants and fund raising