November 12, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 13 Board promises to consider student parking shortage Student parking at Midland Park High School surfaced as an issue during last week’s board of education meeting, with officials pledging to investigate the situation and bring it up for discussion at a future board meeting. Resident Steve Vander Wiele of Erie Avenue said he was representing several parents in asking the board to make available additional spaces so 11 th graders don’t have to park on neighboring streets or driveways. Trustee Brian McCourt said the subject had been dis- cussed at the town’s Board of Recreation meeting the previ- ous evening as well, noting that in some cases the students have to walk a distance through isolated areas to get to the school from their cars. Trustee Tim Thomas said that 16 spaces previously assigned to students are now designated for faculty. Another problem, he said, is that all students are entitled to ask for a parking permit once they get a license, even if they have no intention of taking a car to school. The result, he said, is that at any given time as many as 30 spaces are open; one even has a bicycle parked on it regularly. Only seniors may hold parking permits. School Business Administrator Stacy Garvey explained that the staff is growing, with seven or eight additional bus drivers and aides alone. She said that the recent parking lot resurfacing and restriping had resulted in three additional spaces. Garvey said she had asked the town to allow school park- ing on recreation field property at the rear of the school, but had been told it needed to be left open for recreation use. A board member suggested that the Church of the Nativity across the street be asked to allow student parking. “Don’t push the problem on to someone else,” Vander Wiele told the board. “You should deal with your own prob- lem; you have the space to deal with it … figure out the parking a little better.” Vander Wiele said the board should look again at the Sue Rovi appointed to board of health Sue Rovi, a frequent attendee at Midland Park town council meetings, was recently appointed to the Midland Park Board of Health for a four-year term. A 40-year borough resident, Rovi retired three years ago as assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the New Jersey Medical School, where she taught for 14 years. Rovi said she has done a great deal of volunteer work at the state and county levels over the years and is now happy to be able to contribute her services at the local level. She served on the NJ Domestic Violence Fatal and Near Fatal Review Board for 15 years and on the Rape Crisis Center board for 12 years, among other activities. “She will be a tremendous asset to the board of health,” commented Mayor Patrick “Bud” O’Hagan in making the appointment. parking lot and redesign it and restripe it, if necessary. He said each space should be cut back to the previous standard size, and the middle island stalls and angle parking should be reinstated. Garvey said with the new design, the parking lot had become easier to navigate and safer for pedestrians, with a walking path now specifically delineated between the maintenance barn and the school building. “Figure it out a little better,” Vander Wiele said. “Twenty spots are empty all day, and the kids are parking out on the streets. It doesn’t make sense,” he said. Board President Maryalice Thomas said board of edu- cation and town council representatives would be meet- ing this week to discuss items of common interest, and the parking situation would be one of the topics discussed.