Ice Rink In Long Valley Sidelined For 2022 Season: Mayor

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The Harrington Park rink won’t be flooded this season, with the costs for a special liner needed two to three times what was originally estimated, according to Washington Township Mayor Matt Murello.

Murello updated social media followers about the status of the Harrington Park rink, stating that residents have been asking for an update and “unfortunately, we are not going to flood it this season.”

The new rink was flooded in 2021, with more information about the process, when and how it happened, in the posts about it below:

The rink was opened this past summer for street hockey in August, after it serving as an ice rink for eight days in the winter of 2021.

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The rink had been donated and constructed by Phelps Construction in November 2020.

Murello explained that in 2021, the township was waiting to install the playing surface, with ice on top of the concrete pad instead. The township then planned to put a plastic liner on top of the skating area that was priced between $4,000 and $5,000.

However, the cost of the liner for the rink surface ended up being two to three times higher than estimated and “therefore was not in our last year’s budget.”

“Unfortunately, that means we cannot flood the rink this season,” Murello said. “We will take this into consideration in the upcoming budget for next season.”

Washington Township Committee Member Gregg Forsbrey also commented on social media about the rink this past Monday, stating, that the rink's liner, as well as a crosswalk, were cut from the 2021 budget; and were two items he hopes to see in the 2022 budget.

“Every time I pass the trail while driving on Coleman Road I notice the missing crosswalk where the path crosses and know we had a chance to fix that and declined,” Forsbrey wrote. “Now with this cold weather and all of the questions about ‘why no ice?’ It is simple to see we could have fixed that also.”

“Hopefully,” Forsbrey wrote. “we will see a liner for the hockey rink in our budget this year and next year at this time people will be ice skating.”

This story contains reporting by Gabby DeBenedictis

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