"Mike, Why is no one talking about the "restructuring" at Poricy?", asked an anonymous postcard that I received in the mail recently. That's a good question that I don't have an answer to.
At one of the Township Committee meeting back in August it was mentioned that the Department of Recreation, which used to be housed at Croydon Hall before being moved out to make room for Trinity Hall School, was moving from the old Port Monmouth satellite branch of the Middletown Library on Main Street, to the Poricy Park Nature Center. A notice was posted to the Township website shortly there after, which I posted HERE with a commented.
Since I last posted about it, I've heard that a few individuals were let go and a number of volunteers were told that their services were no longer needed. I've also heard that a number of activity fees were either imposed or raised substantially as a result and a part of the activity center was being remodeled to house the Dept. of Recreation.
I haven't been over to Poricy Park in a few years, since my son finished Cub Scouts. The grounds and Activity Center were nicely kept and the people there were always wonderful to the visitors. I would suspect that some of that "nicety" will be affected by the changes.
If anyone else has any further information that they would like to add, feel free to leave a comment, I'd be interested in hearing from you.
8 comments:
Mike, I think this is definitely something we need to know more about. I heard that quite a few people were let go and not given much notice. The wonderful employees and volunteers did their best with what little money there was. I hope Parks and Rec will take care of this gem as much as they did!
I don't know if you know this but last year Poricy Park was not given the $25,000 in Township support that is usually given to go towards operating expenses. Instead they gave them $25,000 in capital improvements which comes from a different budget line. This Caused a deficit for PPC's FY 2014 since they were not told until the last moment. Meanwhile the MAC keeps getting more money.....
Keep digging into Poricy Park... They fired everyone because of the budget but it wasn't anything different from previous years. Everything was handed over to parks and rec.
The poor people weren't even given any notice before being fired.
If you really want answers, why not ask the Poricy Board? This was done at their request, and the employees were given a week's pay beyond their last day which had to do with the date of their board meeting.
Change happens, organizations stop thriving and lose money, mistakes are made. It's sad, but be thankful that the park will remain the treasure that it has been.
Wonder why the Rec Dept is moving out of Port Monmouth. Is the Health Dept expanding? Why does it need more room?
As you may or may not be aware, property purchased with Green Acres funding can only be used for specific purposes, like housing a Recreation Department staff. Otherwise the office space in Poricy is unusable.
Besides, what better place for the Recreation Department than a park? I don't think the Health Department is expanding, but the two departments were cramped in Port Monmouth, don't you think?
Really what is going on? Do changes happen - yup. But there is nothing that says the non-profit was not thriving or that it was losing money. In fact an earlier post says that financially, things were stable. What is township hiding? Why did they want to take over? Why does one response say that the office space in Poricy is unusable except for the Middletown Parks and Rec Dept staff? Wasn't the Poricy Park Conservancy staff operating out of those offices? Ahh, but the writer clarifies by stating that the two township departments were cramped in Port Monmouth. So let's find a new space for parks and rec and get rid of the non-profit staff! Another response also claims mistakes are made - what mistakes? An unsubstantiated claim means nothing. Also claims that the park will remain the treasure it has been - where are the community programs? Only see the standard parks and rec stuff that the township holds on the property. Again - what is really going on? Bet the township isn't planning on telling!!
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