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Residents urge repairs to Veterans Park rink and press council on animal-shelter phone outages
Summary
Volunteers from the Mercer County Street Hockey Association urged repairs to the Veterans Park rink—citing shifting sport tiles, rotted boards, exposed nails and a failing scoreboard—and requested stronger security and clearer communication. Resident Lisa Williams urged faster phone upgrades at the animal shelter, saying voicemail responses had hampered emergency calls.
During public comment at the Dec. 17 Hamilton Township Council meeting, representatives of the Mercer County Street Hockey Association and multiple residents raised safety and service concerns.
Peter Anapol and Joseph Hajek said new sport tiles installed in Feb. 2023 have shifted, creating gaps between tiles and rink boards; the plywood boards have begun to rot, with missing pieces and exposed nails. They reported at least one incident in which a board screw came loose and caused an injury and said a 20-year-old scoreboard is partially nonfunctional. The association requested installation of additional tiles, replacement or repair of rotted boards, extension or replacement of fencing, locking the rink when not in use and a clearer, faster line of communication with the township recreation department.
Recreation staff confirmed they had engaged the tile manufacturer and had performed a site visit; council members asked the association to send a prioritized list of repairs and indicated some capital-funding items could be considered in next year’s budget.
Later resident Lisa Williams questioned the long delay in phone upgrades for the animal shelter, saying she received voicemail instead of real-time assistance during multiple dog-related incidents and that a dangerous dog had forced her into civil action. Township staff said the phone upgrade is a township-wide project and remains in testing; they could not provide a firm completion date at the meeting.
Council asked staff to receive written lists of the hockey-rink concerns and follow up with the recreation department; staff also pledged to provide a status update on the shelter phone project.
