Longtime resident Paul Chenier (third from right) joined council after gifting the township a handmade wooden seal for sponsoring the veteran’s luncheon on Nov. 10.
Township council shared information on a future splash park along Marne Highway in Rancocas Woods and accepted a gift from a longtime resident at its meeting late last month.Â
The proposed park will function as both a water attraction in warmer months and a playground during other seasons. Plans include a splash pad, dog park and running area and outdoor spaces for residents.
Last May, council awarded a contract for $44,000 to Gloucester County-based Ambient to tear down the vacant house next to B.J.’s Deli and create the dog park, which is expected to open no later than the start of next summer.
Some residents at the council meeting expressed concerns over the cost of the $2.2-million splash park, part of which will be covered by a $175,000 grant that the Burlington County Commissioners awarded the township earlier this year.Â
Should Mount Laurel not secure additional grant money, the park will still be built by utilizing open-space funds to fill any financial gaps.
“It all comes out of the open-space fund,” Township Manager Meredith Riculfy told residents. “(The township) did a survey a few years ago asking residents what they wanted to open space wise, and splash pad was among the top categories.”
The survey she referenced garnered 593 responses and was conducted online during the open-space plan process in 2021, when the township also held two public meetings regarding the proposed park. Residents were asked in the survey about community priorities for recreation and open space, how they participate in the park system and their satisfaction with it, and a community vision for open-space resources.
Out of eight choices, respondents ranked their top priorities: The top three were open-space preservation, playgrounds and trails. The most popular accommodations indicated by the survey were nature/walking trails followed by picnic pavilions and dog runs.
Later in last month’s meeting, longtime resident and former township police officer Paul Chenier donated a handmade wooden seal to the township. Chenier – who has carved many wooden pieces over the years and donated unique flags to police, fire and EMS stations – said his latest gift acknowledged the township’s sponsorship of the Nov. 10 veteran luncheon.
“I am not a spokesman for any veteran,” he noted. “But as an individual, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sponsoring the lunch with a vet event. You’ll never understand what that session does for us veterans. It gives a chance to sit down as a group and talk a language that only we understand.
“We’ve been through some good things, some bad things, some nasty things,” Chenier added, “but we understand what each other is saying, and that doesn’t happen unless we’re all sitting as group. So again, thank you, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”
