Union County Park at Berkeley Caterers Site

Sep 18, 2024

Berkeley Heights Residents Need to Ask Questions About the Proposed Park

-Steven Kark

Berkeley Heights residents need to pay attention to what’s happening to our town.

Did you see this?

Could Berkeley Heights end up losing its iconic Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel—a 100-year tradition—with its July 16 Garden State Fireworks show?

The Planning Board is reviewing the project but does not have approval authority. Per TapInto, “Residents are encouraged to voice their opinions, which may lead to adjustments in the plans.”

Here are a few park highlights from the presentation:

• 8′ wide multi-purpose asphalt trail along the Passaic River

• Asphalt walking paths within park

• Asphalt parking lot with 62 spaces

• Playground areas with rubber surfacing, shade “structures” and picnic tables

• 10′ wide rubber surface walking track with benches

• 30×40 pavilion with decorative concrete and 2 ADA accessible boat launches

We now pay over $10,000 a month for lobbying firms to assist our Township and a paid Public relations firm. Both these firms were awarded a NO-Bid contract by our elected representatives.

Now, we are scrambling for bits of information at the last minute on what the county plans to do in the land that has historically held the famous Mt. Carmel festival for many decades. The Mt. Carmel festival is steeped in Italian culture and celebrates the feast with a fair and fireworks.

Union County acquired the land many years ago, which was praised as a great step towards keeping it as a green space. However, the happiness was short-lived, as now the county intends to build a park there with no consideration for local traditions.

We have been parading success stories of mayor Devanney’s close relationships with county and state-level political leaders so much, but perhaps the clout only goes so far.

How is it that the mayor, who was able to negotiate a shared services contract with the county for a DPW director, is now unable to get a few commitments that local traditions need to be respected?

For Mayor Devanney, it’s excellent PR to hoist the Italian flag plus attend the Mt. Carmel festival… I guess her love for the Italian traditions ends with the photo ops.

Anyone interested in learning more needs to attend the Planning board meeting tonight. Unfortunately, all middle school parents who had plans of attending back-to-school night are out of luck. They will have to catch the recording when it’s posted two weeks from now.

Maybe now we need to lobby for our community’s interests ourselves.. the lobbying firm at $120,000 doesn’t seem to be working for us.

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