Husky Brook Park Redux: Eatontown Mayor Wants to Revisit Approved Plans

Although the borough council voted unanimously in April, after four years of discussions, to move forward with a plan to develop Husky Brook Park as a passive recreation area, Mayor Gerald Tarantolo is trying to revisit the decision.

At two meetings last week, Tarantolo made the case for adding more amenities to the approved plan to create a more active park. He said the original intent, when the idea for developing the open space at the corner of Grant Avenue and Route 36 was first proposed, was to provide a recreation area for that part of the borough comparable to those in the other three “quadrants” of Eatontown.

Tarantolo was on vacation and missed the April 13 meeting when the council unanimously supported the most basic of  . The plan calls for a passive park with approximately 10 parking spaces, a walking trail, a grassy area and landscaping. The cost for construction is estimated by Birdsall to be $345,000.

One factor motivating the council to take action on approving park plans is an agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection to remove illegal wetlands fill from the site and have improvements completed by fall.

At the May 4 council workshop meeting, the mayor resurrected the issue and made his case to council members for directing Birdsall to design engineering plans for a more elaborate park, and to get bids for some of the bigger ticket items initially passed over by the council like restrooms and a storage area. He estimated that the cost for this additional survey would be about $40,000 but argued that it would be more cost-effective to determine real prices and make additions while construction is under way rather than doing work at a later date.

Tarantolo appeared before the Eatontown Recreation Committee on May 5 to encourage members to support the more active recreation area. But members of the volunteer advisory group expressed frustration over the borough’s handling of the park’s development.

“Whatever you want to do is fine with us,” said recreation committee member Annemarie Bell, who expressed her annoyance with the number of changes put before the committee over the years, and what she felt was the disregard the council gave to the committee’s input.

Councilman Dennis Connelly, who was at the recreation meeting, suggested that development of the park should be tackled in stages once basic improvements are made.

Tarantolo said, “I’ve learned that when you phase things, you never see subsequent phases.”