Twp. Reduces Amount to be Spent on Redo of Roller Rink to $125K

A proposal to overhaul the closed roller rink at Harry Dunham Park for was reduced to a maximum of $125,000 at Tuesday's Township Committee meeting, with township employees to be assigned to some of the work that would have been done by a contractor.

The roller rink, located off Somerville Road within the township park, has been padlocked since last summer, after the township received advice that it was no longer safe for hockey players or in-line skaters.

"I think if we are going to do it, we should fix it correctly," Township Committeewoman Carolyn Gaziano said on Tuesday.

Township Engineer Tom Timko said on Tuesday that the proposal is to remove the asphalt from the surface, and to install French drains around the rink. Based on the amount of cracking at the facility, he said he anticipates the base also would need to be replaced.  If that does not appear to be the case when the surface is removed, then less work would need to be done, he said.

Timko said the township would be willing to listen to suggestions made by the public on Tuesday about alternative plans or even a different surface for the rink. However, he said he believed that rubberized tiles — displayed by organizers of local hockey games — can crack and may cause falls among skaters.

"Obviously, we want the best possible solution," said Mayor John Malay.

Township Committeeman Scott Spitzer had made the motion to reduce the $180,000 appropriation and that township workers perform part of the rink's overhaul.

"We are appropriating funds. We are not committing to a specific design or bid," Township Administrator Bruce McArthur said on Tuesday.

The funds for the project would be taken from a capital improvements fund rather than being borrowed, McArthur said beforehand.

But before the vote to approve the $125,000 appropriation, resident Paul Damurjian said that he had looked at the rink, and he believed that there may be cheaper alternatives for solving problems at the facility.

McArthur had said that the resident had previously raised the issue that the rink cost only $55,000 when built 11 years ago. But on Monday, he said that cost didn't include the labor of township employees and other contractors had prepared the site for the rink's installation. 

Based on the surface cracks, Damurjian also suggested that the township may have overreacted in closing the facility since last year. "I think this a great facility," he noted.

Township Committeewoman Mary Pavlini said the roller rink had been used constantly during warmer weather.

Pavlini said she doesn't believed the township's parks committee overreacted in asking for the rink to be closed. She said the municipality's risk manager also had advised the facility was no longer safe.

"It was for the safety of the residents and children," Pavlini said of the decision to lock up the rink.

Kevin Ragsdale, representing Valley Sports in Long Hill Township, and other adults who said they are involved with the Hockey Club of Basking Ridge, presented an example of a rubberized tile to the Township Committee.

He said the alternative surface is being used in Green Brook, and at other rinks in Monmouth County.