A photo from last year’s National Night Out at Count Basie Park. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
Red Bank’s Count Basie Park would get jazzed up with new basketball courts, new field turf and exercise equipment under a plan forwarded by the Mayor and Borough Council Thursday.
The council also voted unanimously to introduce the train station redevelopment plan that would give rise to the largest development the borough has seen in decades.
The basketball courts at Count Basie Park and (below) the asphalt walking path that wends throughout the park. (photos by Brian Donohue)
The council held a required public hearing and approved a resolution allowing the borough to apply for a $500,000 Monmouth County open space grant to help cover the estimated $2 million cost of the Count Basie Park project.
Michael Reiser, engineer with the borough’s engineering firm CME Associates told the council the project would include the following:
- reconstruction of the existing basketball courts, including new hoops and backboards
- new fencing and backstops for the grass baseball fields
- reconstruction of the artificial turf softball field
- reconstruction of the main artificial turf multi-purpose field.
- resurfacing of the asphalt walkway that runs through the park
- installation of decorative benches throughout the park
- installation of exercise equipment along the asphalt walkway
“Many of these improvements, or all of them, are needed,” Councilmember Ben Forest said.
Separately, the borough has applied for, and is slated to receive, according to Reiser, a $500,000 state Green Acres grant to help pay for the replacement of the depression-era bleachers at the park.
Under a bond ordinance passed last year by the council the borough will borrow an additional $723,000 to cover the $1.2 million of the bleachers project.
The borough also recently extended its lease with the landowner Red Bank Borough Board of Education to fulfill the state’s requirements for the grant.
Reiser said the park renovations would also include taller fencing near the softball field to hopefully fix the problem of balls smashing cars in the adjacent Steve’s Auto Repair lot.
The council also introduced an ordinance that would encode the Red Bank Train Station Redevelopment Plan which was approved by the Planning Board earlier this month. Final passage would essentially create new zoning guidelines for the area outlined in the redevelopment plan.
The plan calls for the creation of a dense new neighborhood on the parking lots and other properties near the station with up to 400 apartments, new streets, and open space around the preserved historic train station building.
Once the council approves the plan, the next step in the process is for NJ Transit’s designated developer, Denholtz, to submit a site plan to the Planning Board with specifics on exactly what they propose to build.
Readers can click here to catch up on redbankgreen’s extensive coverage of the redevelopment. The council will hold a public hearing and likely vote on the redevelopment plan at its July 10 meeting.
In other business, the council gave final unanimous approval to an ordinance creating the new position of Director of Recreation and Human Services. Borough Manager Jim Gant said the new position will allow the tasks held by the departments of recreation, community engagement, and senior services to be more streamlined as part of a single department.
Gant said the idea was a recommendation included in a 2018 Management Enhancement Report that set forth recommendations for streamlining services and fixing years of chaotic management practices.
Resident and former borough Parks & Recreation Committee member Adrienne Bilal, however, questioned the addition of another salary, set at between $85,000 and $125,000, to the borough payroll.
“Each one of these directors are more than capable of handling what they’re doing,” she said of the three department heads that will fall under the new director. “They’re more than capable of doing it on their own rather than us hiring another person to do it. Because that is a salary that’s going to affect the residents of Red Bank.”
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
