District wants to improve security for after school recreational programs
VENTNOR – The Board of Education Wednesday, Oct. 24 unanimously approved capital projects it will undertake in summer of 2019 and informed the Recreation Department that the Ventnor Educational Community Complex would not be available for summer recreation programs.
Recreation Supervisor Jerry Thomas, who attended the meeting at the request of the board’s Buildings and Grounds Committee, was told that any recreation programs normally held at the VECC during the summer would have to find an alternative location.
“We made the decision collectively, the administration and school staff, and we’re not going to put anybody in harm’s way for the sake of having programs,” said board member Douglas Biagi, who is also the city’s chief of police. “We’re giving you seven months’ notice.”
The board agreed that it would add three additional HVAC units to the project list Business Administrator Terri Nowotny presented to the board for approval.
“The Buildings and Grounds Committee met twice to prioritize the list,” Nowotny said.
The district will install a total of 7 HVAC units, repave the front entrance parking lot, point the bricks, make additional improvements in the auditorium, renovate 10 bathrooms, upgrade the fire suppression system and fire alarm control panel, replace a roof canopy, and purchase radios for security.
Nowotny said engineers are currently preparing proposals for approval by the board at next month’s meeting and bids will be advertised in early spring “to get the most competitive pricing” in time for the work to be done in summer.
The total cost of projects for 2019, before adding the three units above the library, will be $4,785,000 for construction and $455,000 for engineering. The work will be funded through a $9.3 million bond approved in July for the district’s five-year capital improvement plan, which eliminated the need for the school district to budget improvements in its annual operating budget.
Biagi also said the Recreation Department needs to tighten security during after school activities.
“We strive to make this place as secure and friendly as possible, but it seems over the years, we’ve gotten more complacent,” Biagi said. “It happens more with the recreational events after school than it does during school hours.”
Biagi said the district and Recreation Department would notify community groups about security concerns and suggested more be done to supervise and ensure the safety of participants.
“You need to have someone at the doors; the doors cannot be propped open anymore. The world is not a safe and friendly place anymore,” Biagi. “It only takes one.”
Pacanowski suggested the Recreation Department have more than one person on duty when activities are being held. He said representatives of the school board would attend the rec board’s next meeting to discuss ways to make the building safer.
“I think that’s the answer, having a second person,” Thomas said.
Biagi also said the Recreation Department should inform participants of the volleyball program to park in the school’s parking lot instead of parking on streets surrounding the complex .Residents who live on Walden and Windsor avenues have complained to city officials that volleyball participants are taking up parking spaces, blocking driveways and are loud when they leave the gym at night.
“It’s become unbearable for the neighbors and it’s coming to the point where I have to enforce it,” Biagi said.
Biagi said the Police Department has been dealing with the issue for years, but it has come to the point where it must be controlled. His next step will be to ticket people, which he would rather not do, he said.
“We can hold off ticketing people for two weeks,” Biagi said.
