Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: BURNHAM BLASTS PARK DELAY

rb-tennis-081915-2-500x375-4633592The clay tennis courts at Marine Park as seen last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot-topic_03-220x138-2130637Five months after three proposals were submitted, the Red Bank council has yet to receive a recommendation on the future of the hurricane-damaged Marine Park clay tennis courts, and may not get one before election day.

That has Republican Councilwoman Cindy Burnham — who redbankgreen has learned was chastised behind closed doors by her colleagues for saying too much about the issue — ramping up her complaints that there’s something “fishy” going on.

At Wednesday night’s semimonthly council meeting, Mayor Pasquale Menna and borough Attorney Dan O’Hern cautioned Burnham, as they have in the past, about discussing in public a matter that could be a subject of contractual negotiation or even litigation.

Burnham pressed ahead, though, saying she wanted to limit her questions to matters of law. Isn’t there a time limit in which the council has to act on the Marine Park request for proposals, or RFP, she asked? And where is the promised recommendation from the three-person committee headed by Councilwoman Linda Schwabenbauer, she added.

Schwabenbauer replied that she needed to “reconvene the committee” of herself and council members Kathy Horgan and Ed Zipprich to address outstanding issues. But that meeting will not take place, she said, before a new Parks and Rec department director is hired to replace Memone Crystian, who resigned in May and whose post is now filled on an acting basis by Tamila Bumback. Interviews are underway, and should be completed in about four weeks, Schwabenbauer said.

O’Hern said that, technically, the state Local Public Contracts Law does require action within 60 days. But the Marine Park situation, he said, was not as simple as one in which the town was buying a piece of equipment or putting work out to bid.

“This is a little more complicated,” O’Hern said, adding that the time could be extended upon agreement by bidders. Asked if the the three bidders had agreed, O’Hern said, “I don’t think we’ve received any objections.”

On Thursday, Burnham took to Facebook to complain. Here’s her post:

burnham-fb-post-092415-500x480-5848925
Burnham, however, isn’t the only person on the council who’s concerned about a lawsuit by one of the bidders. Others on the governing body fear that Burnham might be the catalyst for one.

It turns out that the “possible litigation” that prompted the closed-door council meeting held after the September 9 council session was held in part was to warn Burnham that her public comments on the matter could trigger a suit.

Earlier this week, Menna told redbankgreen that the borough had received a request for a blank tort claim notice form from one of the three Marine Park candidates, though he declined to say which one. A tort claim notice is required under state law before a lawsuit can be filed against a municipality.

That request, in part, prompted the executive session, he said. And while declining to offer details, Menna said the session “didn’t focus on Councilwoman Burnham,” but that “there is a concern about people going outside scope” of the deliberative process.

During the meeting, according to a source who asked not to be named, Burnham “was warned repeatedly to stop her posts on social media” about the RFPs.

Afterward, Burnham told redbankgreen that she wanted to disclose the contents of the meeting, but was meeting with her own attorney over the issue of whether she could speak freely.

Menna said he “can’t say what exchanges took place or the tenor” of the dialogue.

Previously, Republican party chairman Sean DiSomma had complained that Democratic Councilman Mike DuPont “leaked” information from the ongoing bid-review process to the media. DuPont denied the claim.

Three groups are angling to take control of the courts site, which was damaged during Hurricane Sandy nearly three years ago and has remained unusable since. They are:

Jetsun Enterprises, which has proposed leasing the site from the borough and creating a privately-owned, $3.5 million multiuse facility offering miniature golf, a miniature artificial-ice rink and rentals of canoes, kayaks and other watercraft.

Marine Park Activity Center, which calls for building a conventional boathouse with a catering facility at the site.

• And Jim Cullen, of Locust, who has said he would donate $500,000 to restore and upgrade the courts and provide a budget for maintenance.

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
STREETCORNER SERENADE
An Irish doodle named Cheddar listens to native New Jerseyan, singer/songwriter and former Houston resident Tom Foti, (identified in the hea ...
Red Bank 5K Fun!!!
Red Bank Classic – June 14th, 2025 (photo by Partyline contributor Adam Kaplan)  
RAINBOW OVER RED BANK
Saturday, before and after the storm that rolled through town. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)    
Mini Ballers Bring the Heat at Fusion Basketball School
As the temperatures heat up, so does the competition in the mini baller clinic at Fusion School of Basketball. These little tykes are intens ...
DOZENS OF PLEIN AIR ARTISTS “PAINT RED BANK”
Plein air artists take over town for first ever "Paint Red Bank" event. (click to read)
RED BANK: SIGN ON ICONIC DANNY’S STEAK HOUSE COMES DOWN
The sign hanging from the shuttered Danny's Steak House comes down ten months after a manager reported Danny's Steakhouse would be back "bet ...
FOR YANKEES FANS, GOOD TRASH PICKIN’
A collection of framed photographs of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and other New York Yankees greats was placed curbside along with a ...
RED BANK: NEW HANDICAPPED PARKING, WEST SIDE MEETING PLANNED
New handicapped parking sign West Side advocate had pressed for is installed, with meeting planned to discuss other concerns. (click to read ...
SUNSET AT SUMMER’S START
Crazy sunset clouds shot from Monmouth Boat Club on the Friday evening at the start of Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. ...
SIDEWALK GOES FROM WORST TO FIRST
P (photo by Brian Donohue) What had been, in our estimation – and apparently in the eyes of the several people who have emailed and te ...
RED BANK: PEERING FROM ON HIGH, ACROSS THE DECADES
Roofers on the Azalea Red Bank top off the project in the shadow of a sculpture depicting another generation of construction workers who toi ...
BRICK FACELIFT CONTINUES ON MONMOUTH STREET
A million-dollar brick sidwalk makeover of Monmouth Street in Red Bank continues.
JAY AND SILENT EAGLE
A very loud blue jay squawks at an indiferent bald eagle in a treetop alongside the Swimming River in Red Bank this week. (Partyline photo b ...
PIZZA LOVING SQUIRREL SPOTTED IN RED BANK
Pizza squirrel spotted in Red Bank. (click to read)
GET YOUR MA SOMETHIN’ NICE AT THE RED BANK FARMERS MARKET
It’s a beautiful and sunny Mother’s Day for the first instance of the farmer’s market, held every Sunday, beginning in May ...
SIGN? WHAT SIGN?
Folks in Red Bank Wednesday exercising their riparian rights to access tidal waters first encoded into Roman law in 500 AD and later adopted ...
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Partyline contributor captures photo of backyard fox.
STRIPER RUN AT MARINE PARK
An angler pulls in a striped bass from the Marine Park bulkhead Tuesday evening. (photo by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
COLD AS CANADA? CHECK.
A pair of goose sculptures propped atop an air conditioning unit on River Street in Red Bank.
SUNRISE OVER A GLASSY NAVESINK
Sunrise over the Navesink River, seen from NJ Transit Train 3320. (photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim)