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WEST MILFORD - Water damage closes teen center
(by David M. Zimmer - Staff Writer - October 02, 2008)
WEST MILFORD - Due to the clandestine closure of the West Milford Teen Coffee House, several students petitioned the Township Council last Wednesday to open the teen center and reschedule the eighth annual Battle of the Bands.
With many concerned parents and teenagers in the audience during the Sept. 23 council meeting, Steven Hrema a West Milford High School student, submitted a petition with 240 signatures of those that want the coffee house opened and the cancelled Battle of the Bands rescheduled this fall. In what would be the eighth consecutive year of the Battle of the Bands, township officials decided to cancel the event because of problems with the facilities in the coffee house.
Hrema called the battle “a day for the entire township,” saying the cancellation has only added to the disappointment that losing the coffee house on Westbrook Road has caused the youth of West Milford.
Acting Township Administrator Antoinette Battaglia said a leak in the roof above the bathrooms caused some damage to the tiling and allowed mold to develop. She said the bathroom has “significant damage” and Health Department officials will not allow the coffee house to be used until the facilities are accessible.
While notified in early August, the township was unable to fix the situation in time for the opening of school and is currently receiving bids on the roof repair, Battaglia said. However, the indoor repairs cannot begin until the roof is finished, so the Battle of the Bands will either have to be cancelled or moved, Battaglia said.
Daniel Sebenco read a letter to the council from one of the battle’s founders, Randy Sirocco, who explained the importance of the event as a drug-free community gathering that attracts both young and old from all over the area. In his letter, Sirocco also said it would be a shame for the students to have the coffee house, like the Battle of the Bands, taken away when it provides a safe haven for the youth of the township.
Councilman Philip Weisbecker, who helped get the first Battle of the Bands started in 2001, said the town’s lack of action on the bathroom issues was not fair to the youth of the township, who had little knowledge of the problems with the building.
“I am concerned ... that somebody in the administrative portion didn’t take the time to reroute or to replace or relocate the coffee house,” Weisbecker said. “There’s other parts of the municipality where I am quite sure that if we had looked at it, if we had some kind of head’s up in advance, that something could have been done.”
Weisbecker recommended that the township utilize the Hillcrest Community Center on Macopin Road as a temporary location for the coffee house, since they are already paying to use the building and its surrounding open space. He went on to ask Council President Joseph Smolinski to reach out to the Recreation Advisory Committee to find a location for the coffee house until the repairs are completed.
“We have in our town some very valuable resources,” he said. “One is our seniors; the other is our youth.”
Weisbecker also recommended rescheduling the Battle of the Bands but keeping the event at the teen coffee house. Since the only thing holding the battle back is the lack of facilities, he said the township could simply contract portable toilets for the one-day event.
Not wanting to move the event from its traditional venue, which has brought people from New York and Pennsylvania to the town’s teen coffee house, Smolinski agreed saying it would be easier to simply reschedule than relocate the Battle of the Bands. However, he said the township should do whatever it takes to put on this event in the coming weeks as it spends thousands of dollars to put on the “Concerts Under the Stars” each year.
“It is our obligation to supply what the kids want,” Smolinski said. “I would be embarrassed if it wasn’t.”
While a tentative date of Saturday, Oct. 18 was set for the battle, it remains uncertain if, when and where the event will take place this year.
Carol Romeo of the high school's Parent-Teacher-Student Organization said the coffee house is much more than a venue for the Battle of the Bands. It is, as Hrema and Sirocco said, an important gathering place for the youth of the township, especially during a time when students are mourning the loss of former West Milford Highlander, Ben Jurgensen.
“Kids need a place to go,” Romeo said. “We have to start thinking about the kids.”
Romeo said it was unfair that students were denied access to the coffee house and were forced to hold a candlelight vigil for Jurgensen at another location. She asked the township to try and resolve the situation for the benefit of the parents and children who have come to rely on the building as one of the only safe places to hang out outside their homes.
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