Sayreville horses given shelter from the storm

Drwal: Facility was planned from get-go despite mayor's order

BY MICHAEL ACKER

Staff Writer

A divisive issue over the sheltering of horses during severe weather has been resolved with the construction of a run-in shelter at Sayreville's riding stables.

Just who gets the credit for that has not.

The shelter was recently built at the borough's new horseback riding facility in the Julian Capik Nature Preserve, Bordentown Avenue.

Republican Mayor Kennedy O'Brien last month issued an executive order calling for the horses to be provided shelter from severe weather conditions. He said residents had raised concerns to him that the horses had no cover during Tropical Storm Ernesto in late August.

The order raised the ire of Democrats on the Borough Council, who accused O'Brien of playing politics with the issue. O'Brien said he was surprised by the Democrats' opposition to what he considered a common-sense matter.

The run-in shelter was subsequently built by Gary Halper, owner of Washington Riding Stables, which operates the facility on behalf of the borough. Halper reportedly paid $30,000 to construct the shelter.

Democratic Councilman Stanley Drwal, who led the effort to have a horseback riding facility at the park, said the run-in shelter was part of Halper's plan from the beginning.

"The shelter was [in] Gary's plan this fall anyway," Drwal told Greater Media Newspapers last week. "It was part of the whole plan all along and was discussed many times in the past. [The Republicans] were trying to make this political and make accusations when the thing was going to be built this month. This was such an obvious ploy."

The park, Drwal said, "was a dump" a few years ago, but now has eight miles of trails and roughly 25 horses and eight ponies for patrons to ride on. Sayreville opened the stables in August, becoming the first town in Middlesex County to operate such a facility, which offers lessons, instruction, guided trail rides and other services.

The construction of the run-in shelter was done on schedule, according to Drwal, who added that Halper did not speed up the process of building it because of the executive order.

Republican council candidate Ronald Green defended O'Brien's decision to issue the executive order, saying in a press release provided by the Republican Party that he thinks the council was playing partisan politics in voicing opposition to the mayor's action.

"I am glad that common sense was finally able to prevail," Green said of the shelter's construction. "It seems that the natural instinct on the part of the Democrats is to oppose anything the mayor supports, even when he is just trying to get these poor horses out of a hurricane."

The Republicans dispute Drwal's assertion that the shelter was always in the works, and instead state in the press release that the Democrats were "finally shamed into action, and finally permitted a shelter to be built for the horses on the site."

O'Brien, discussing what he described as a "brouhaha" brought about by his executive order, said "it is just unbelievably silly up there [on the council dais]."

But Drwal said the Republicans should have voiced their concerns to him or Halper before O'Brien issued the executive order, because he would have told them a shelter was already planned.

"They did not attend the opening, they said publicly that they have no knowledge of horses. Having owned horses myself and cared for them, I personally feel insulted that the Republicans would play political games with such a good thing for the town. This whole thing could have been solved by asking the question, 'When are the shelters going to be built?'"

Construction of the run-in shelter took about a week, according to Drwal, who said it was built using solid beams and 6-by-6 lumber. He estimated that the shelter is 40 feet wide, 15 feet deep and 15 feet high.

"It was built as soon as all of the materials arrived," Drwal said.

Drwal expressed relief that the matter has been put to rest. If the stables are a success, a barn and an indoor facility may also be built there, he said.