Politics & Government
Keep Park Green, Residents Urge the Council
A standing-room-only crowd packed into Hatboro's Borough Council meeting to ask the governing body to find somewhere besides Eaton Park to house a public works storage garage.
Hatboro residents who live near, or use Eaton Park, filled the Hatboro Borough Council meeting room and many made the same request: Leave Eaton Park alone.
Residents suggested renting existing vacant buildings within Hatboro, enlarging Hatboro's police station to help accommodate public works, or keeping borough facilities the way they are.
But, all seemed to echo the sentiment that they did not want Eaton Park to house a public works storage facility.
Bill Hartigan said last week's suggestion during the council's facilities meeting "galvanized" residents who live near the West Moreland Avenue Park.
When a consultant presented that very idea back in February, "the neighbors discussed this and thought how could this possibly move forward?" Hartigan said.
Other towns, by comparison, have far greater amounts of park space, Hartigan pointed out. And Eaton Park, which is near oft-flooded areas, is not a good place to convert green space to pavement, Hartigan said.
"The last thing the borough needs is more rainwater runoff," Hartigan said, to applause, adding that the borough would be "building within feet of the flood zone."
The council, during a facilities meeting last week, discussed the possibility of building a 3,760-square-foot public works annex at Eaton Park where tennis courts had previously been located.
The governing body took no formal action, but said the conceptual idea was the cheapest alternative since the land was already borough-owned. Council President John Zygmont had estimated that buying property for the same purpose could cost the borough upwards of $500,000.
Even then, at least the bulk of a $2.8 million plan to modernize and expand outdated and cramped borough-owned buildings, including the nearly 60-year-old police building–which houses roughly 2,500 square feet of public works equipment–and borough hall, would still be at play.
"There’s a lot more to it than just public works," Zygmont said during Monday night's council meeting. "In order to refurbish the police station and get things that the police need, we need to free up that space."
With an annual operating budget of less than $5 million and uncertainties about grant funding and a yet-to-be-finalized financing plan, the majority of the council seemed to agree during last week's meeting, that using the park was the most cost-effective alternative.On Monday, when questioned by several residents, Zygmont, who along with fellow Republicans Bill Tompkins and Vincent LaSorsa and Democrat Patty Fleming are up for re-election in November, said a formal decision could be as far as six months away.
"Council is laying out a framework," Zygmont said, adding that committees of elected officials and residents will be formed to further investigate the best scenario. "They have sufficient work ahead of them."
Zygmont said "there will be further discussions on this in a public forum" and the council said future meetings would be advertised on the borough's Web site, cable channel and in the newspaper.
Mike Wurger, of South Linden Avenue, whose background is in architecture, expressed interest in being part of a committee.
"We’re just trying to show the council how important the park is to us," Wurger said. "If there’s other areas that we can look at, I think that those can be examined."
Others suggested adding more recreational facilities to Eaton Park, instead of using space for other purposes.
Bud Aiken, a former Greater Hatboro Chamber of Commerce's former CEO, said residents who live near the park "wait year after year for something to come in there to replace those tennis courts."
"We can do more in the parks," Aiken said.
For more news and updates about Hatboro's facilities plan, or the possibility of building a public works annex at Eaton Park, subscribe to our free newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow @Hatboropatch on Twitter.
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