Sounds lovely in theory, but practically speaking this is just another section of the river which has no police oversight or maintenance and is destined to become another Appelt park, over run with dozens, if not hundreds of partying, trash leaving out of Towners with no respect for the environment. This already occurs on weekends on a smaller scale. This is far worse than Appelt however because it is also in the backyards of hardworking, tax paying Butler residents who can fully expect their complaints about misbehavior in this place to be ignored as they have been for years.

M m, Can i ask you what was the condition of this property before the transfer?And my family is one of those hard working tax paying Butler residents that live in front of our new YAPEWI PARK. And beleave me if we need police to respond I would beleave they will. And since we started working with clean comunities. The area is cleaner then it has been in a very long time .Also there has been a envirormental research book publish by RUSS KUSHNER you may want to look at it .

I wish you all luck with this park and hope that it does not suffer the same end the last park that was there did. One really good flood and it was abandoned It takes alot of money to fund a water front park on a river that is known for major flooging.

TINA, this will not be a park like the old Arch St park. there will be no( play ground -basketball jungle gym ].IT will only have a river walk and a clear entrance walk for people to be able to enjoy the waterfalls and nature . If you have any question you can go on the passaic river coliation web page very help full

I really don't have any questions I was just born and raised there and enjoyed the old park as a child uniit was ruined by the flood and left to grow over and not repaired. LIke I said above wishing you luck with this new adventure.

Sherry, I have lived on this section of the river for almost 30 years. I have witnessed numerous instances of bad, illegal and environmentally destructive behavior in that time. I have watched a drunken father with his kids bash in the heads of baby ducklings with rocks. I have watched teenagers having sex in broad daylight while our kids were playing in their own yard in full view. In both cases, the police were called & failed to respond. I have endured countless drunken, screaming parties behind my home. One group of kids will come to drink and break their beer bottles in the river. The next group of kids comes to swim. Two weeks ago we called the Bloomingdale police about a problem on their side. Their response was that they don’t own it anymore (erroneous) and they did not respond. This is reality. When you put up a sign and invite the general public to this area, you do not get to choose who uses it. Who is to say that a couple of fishermen are okay, but the 40 partying, drinking, swimming screaming people from Newark may not?

I have personally spoken to the PRC about this. They have no plans to limit swimming, partying or any other kind of activities that will make our lives unbearable. They have no coordination with Butler or Bloomingdale police to monitor the area. They have no funds for trash removal after every weekend. You are putting out the welcome mat for EVERYONE! I know exactly what condition this area is in. I look at it every day. It needs to be left natural. The wildlife needs to be left alone. The problems that exist now are bad enough. Inviting tens or hundreds of people to stomp all over the riverbank is not preservation. The PRC’s naïve, head-in-the sand attitude will affect more damage here than has ever been done before. You are seriously delusional if you believe that all the people who come here will quietly enjoy the river, pack up their trash and leave for home when they need a bathroom. The nightmare in Riverdale’s Appelt Park has shown us what we can expect and they actually have rules against swimming & drinking. The PRC does not.

M m Did they not hold town meetings about this before hand? Don't they have to by law?

Something that I learned just this morning from a borough official is that now the PRC is totally responsible including any liabilities for anyone injured or any clean up if there is any contaminants discovered. Also, a little history behind this tract that I had not remembered until now is that sometime in the 1960's or maybe 1950's Amerace Corporation (formerly American Hard Rubber Company) signed the property over to the Borough of Butler therefore relieving themselve of responsibility including that of property tax payments.

The town of Butler tried unsuccessfully to give this property to the adjacent homeowners in the early 1980s. Our attorneys advised us not to accept due to the tremendous liability issues. A former police chief told me that there have been 3 deaths that he knew of on this stretch of the river. The EPA has identified several contaminated sites on the Bloomingdale side of the river. This was an issue when they built their senior center. The rubber company used land next to the river to dump & bury waste. I do not know if there are sites on the Butler side, but the EPA could confirm that.

I know in the mid to late 70's there was concern from pollution from the PQ corp that was there and they needed to do daiily testing. I personally have never been in the river that far up along that St I was more a lower Arch river rat lol In my whole 22 years living there I think I remember one death but am not positive .It was mentined recently that there are deer there now which is great it would be just nice to see it left wild with no more human invasion than what has already occured in that area.

When the senior center was built, a former rubber company employee confirmed that they regularly buried waste along this section of the river. Current environmental & zoning laws prohibit any development here already. There was no actual need to "preserve" it. When it was town property, at least Butler had the right to stop swimming & partying. (many of the current problems are on the Bloomingdale side and their responses are inconsistent) Now that it has passed to the PRC, they must be very proactive to ensure that this does not become a free version of Sun Tan Lake. Bear in mind that Butler still has an obligation to provide police & emergency services. It would be a serious shame to see this area destroyed. There is so much wildlife here including deer, a bear, mallard ducks and a beautiful crane who has lived here for at least 5 years. How will they survive an onslaught of dozens or hundreds of people each weekend? You cannot selectively ban groups of people from parks. You can only limit their activities and stop the publicity

M m I am happy to hear that the wild life has returned to that lil stretch of the river. Over the years of my childhood there we had numerous families of ducks that took up residence in our part o the river. Even a couple of white ducks and a white goose. We watched over them fed them and then one day they moved on. It would be a shame to see what wild life that has taken up home there forced out.

I hope that I'm not on the Tri-Boro FAS crew that might have to go down that embankment carrying equipment to the river and then everything back up including the patient. It will not be easy and could become a factor in a critical case.

Well then Rich i hope your not either. Because God forbid a accident happens, (and I did say accident) the TRI-BORO FAS crew will do what they were taught how to make sure there is a safe route to get the patient to safety so thanks for giving everyone heads up that you are not willing to respond AND IF YOU DONT THINK YOU CAN THAT IS FINE. BECAUSE WE WOULD NOT WANT SOMEONE WHO CANT PREFORM UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES. THANKS AGAIN RICH FOR LETING US KNOW.

I am just saying it will be difficult. If you don't believe me Sherry, just look at the radical terrain. Maybe the new owner will put a roadway down the embankment along with a parking area.

Sherry, seriously, now that the park is officially open and we have established that we are all concerned about the preservation of the area and the wildlife, what exactly are the PRC rules and how are they to be enforced? These areas are very problematic on weekends and holidays and whenever it becomes very hot. Matt mentioned asking the Butler PD to make regular patrols of the area. Has there been any conversation with them? Who should we call if there is a problem albeit with the understanding that the Butler PD will only enforce obvious violations of town & state law. Do they have the authority to stop littering, swimming, destruction of vegetation, etc.? Is there a PRC rep available to call during these times who will have the ability to formally ask Butler PD to intervene? A flyer distributed in the neighborhood would be a terrific idea.