Sharing Services: New Recreation Director Says She's Ready For Busy Spring Season

Jean Broadbent, 48, of Waretown, has been working for her home community since 1997, first as a municipal alliance coordinator, then in 2000, as a recreation director in a department where she was a "staff of one." As of last month, Broadbent expanded her duties to include the overseeing of Barnegat Township's recreation department.

"So far it has been a very good transition at a really good time," Broadbent said. "Both of our towns are busier in the summer, so having the transition in February, it was a nice down-ish time to get organized and get my feet wet (with smaller events)."

Broadbent's duties for both towns include overseeing the day-to-day operations of the recreation department, making sure that all event and class registrations go out on time, as well as staffing, hiring of lifeguards, bay beach operations and overseeing any special events.

She spends some days in Waretown, and some in Barnegat, with her laptop, depending on the day’s needs.

“Recreation is the most flexible of shared services,” Broadbent said. “It’s never 9 to 5.”

Broadbent, who grew up in Fairfield, N.J., and Bucks County, Pa., and received a Bachelor of Science degree in recreation from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, said she is confident that she knows Barnegat's recreation needs well. While working in Waretown all these years, she kept a close eye on her neighboring communities and what they have been doing.

"A lot of the programs [in Barnegat and Waretown] are similar," Broadbent said, "just being the bigger town, Barnegat has more going on."

Working with a preschool and a local Chamber of Commerce are the only two major differences, Boradbent said. That, and the size of the staff at Broadbent's disposal, who said that as a recreation department director in Waretown, she is "the staff of one."

"Here in Barnegat, you have double-and -a-half, almost triple the population," she said. "So there is more assistance to get the programs going."

That assistance includes a full-time assistant director and a secretary, Broadbent said, not counting part-time instruction staff for different programs, such as preschool teachers, aerobics instructors, etc.

At the start of her position, Broadbent will continue with Barnegat’s regular recreation spring offerings, the description of which are included with this article. But in the fall, she will try new things.

“I’d like to offer more senior programs, including an exercise program, and more bus trips, to the Camden Aquarium, a winery, Cape May Zoo,” Broadbent said.

The hiring of Broadbent is part of last month’s shared services agreement between two towns, through which Barnegat and Waretown will share a tax collector, a zoning officer and a recreation director, in addition to already sharing the township administrator.

This consolidation, which is strongly encouraged by the state, will cut three full-time positions from Barnegat’s payroll, Township Administrator David Breeden said.

“This shared service arrangement will yield cost savings for the Township of Barnegat and generate additional revenue for the Township of Ocean,” Breeden said. “The exact amounts to be determined will be based on actual hours work.”

The former Barnegat Recreation Director was Barbara Levin, who was employed by the township for approximately 13 years.

Broadbent thinks of her work as vital to the well-being of the township’s residence and its quality of life, she said.

"Recreation is supposed to be an affordable avenue for the entire demographic,” Broadbent said. “Whether you’re a parent of a three-year-old, or a senior citizen who wants a morning exercise program, it’s supposed to be all-inclusive, affordable and non-discriminatory.”

Broadbent used examples of free events aimed for diverse segments of the population, such as the Dock Concert series, the annual fireworks, the Easter egg hunt, the fall festival and the fishing derby as examples of what recreation is all about.