It's interesting to see how fast Gerry Scharfenberger has back-peddled on this seeing how he was one of the people to vote in favor of this proposal:
MIDDLETOWN — For years, Mary Mahoney and dozens of other Lincroft residents have lived adjacent to a recreational field that various sports teams use for practice.
On Monday, dozens of the residents attended a Middletown Township Committee meeting to voice their opposition to the municipality's proposal to expand usage of the field at West Front Street Park to actual games.
In particular, the township never notified the residents that, along with installing an artificial turf field, it was considering adding light towers, a public address system and a snack bar to the site, Mahoney said.
"Where was the transparency?" Mahoney asked township committee members, drawing applause from many who sat in the crowd. "None of us knew anything about this."
Currently, activities at the site do not draw a crowd, as it is used primarily for practice, said Sarah Hammond, a resident. With the change, the neighborhood would get overwhelmed with cars because of inadequate parking at the site and with noise pollution from the PA system, she said.
"From Aug. 1 to November, there will be no rest in my home," said Hammond, who noted that her backyard is about 100 feet from the field.
In December, Middletown awarded a $194,700 contract for engineering work on the proposed fields in Lincroft and Croydon Hall to Manalapan's CMX Engineering. The plan is under design and has not been finalized, said Anthony Mercantante, Middletown's administrator. The fields would be used for sports such as football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey.
Rather than expand the West Front Street Park site, Middletown had preferred to install the turf field at either Thorne Middle School or Thompson Middle School, township officials said. Middletown would have paid for the construction and leased the land from the district.
After discussing the proposal for several months, Middletown and Middletown Township School District officials could not reach an agreement, they said.
The district had preferred to see the field at Nut Swamp Elementary School, believing there would be inadequate parking at either Thompson or Thorne, said Christopher Parton, its attorney.
But Middletown found the Nut Swamp site to be too hilly, requiring a significant amount of leveling, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said.
Following Monday's public outcry, township officials are currently reviewing the plan to see what can be amended, said Scharfenberger, who could not pinpoint when any potential changes to the proposal would be released.
"The plans are not etched in stone," Scharfenberger said. "We may make adjustments to
MIDDLETOWN — For years, Mary Mahoney and dozens of other Lincroft residents have lived adjacent to a recreational field that various sports teams use for practice.
On Monday, dozens of the residents attended a Middletown Township Committee meeting to voice their opposition to the municipality's proposal to expand usage of the field at West Front Street Park to actual games.
In particular, the township never notified the residents that, along with installing an artificial turf field, it was considering adding light towers, a public address system and a snack bar to the site, Mahoney said.
"Where was the transparency?" Mahoney asked township committee members, drawing applause from many who sat in the crowd. "None of us knew anything about this."
Currently, activities at the site do not draw a crowd, as it is used primarily for practice, said Sarah Hammond, a resident. With the change, the neighborhood would get overwhelmed with cars because of inadequate parking at the site and with noise pollution from the PA system, she said.
"From Aug. 1 to November, there will be no rest in my home," said Hammond, who noted that her backyard is about 100 feet from the field.
In December, Middletown awarded a $194,700 contract for engineering work on the proposed fields in Lincroft and Croydon Hall to Manalapan's CMX Engineering. The plan is under design and has not been finalized, said Anthony Mercantante, Middletown's administrator. The fields would be used for sports such as football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey.
Rather than expand the West Front Street Park site, Middletown had preferred to install the turf field at either Thorne Middle School or Thompson Middle School, township officials said. Middletown would have paid for the construction and leased the land from the district.
After discussing the proposal for several months, Middletown and Middletown Township School District officials could not reach an agreement, they said.
The district had preferred to see the field at Nut Swamp Elementary School, believing there would be inadequate parking at either Thompson or Thorne, said Christopher Parton, its attorney.
But Middletown found the Nut Swamp site to be too hilly, requiring a significant amount of leveling, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said.
Following Monday's public outcry, township officials are currently reviewing the plan to see what can be amended, said Scharfenberger, who could not pinpoint when any potential changes to the proposal would be released.
"The plans are not etched in stone," Scharfenberger said. "We may make adjustments to
2 comments:
Lincroft sports complex
One very important fact your readers should know. The $2,500,000 tax payer Bond that is paying for this complex was written in 2006 and signed by then Mayor Tom Hall. It's main intent was to be used for recreational purposes and specifically mentioned Croydon Hall and Nut Swamp Park. Middletown will have a $5,000,000 deficet this year.
The Contract awarded to CMX in Dec. is twice as much as what the BOE paid to their engineers for High School South and North.
Do our elected officials understand that we are sick and tired of their pet projects and over spending of the taxpayers money? A housewife could do a better job with our money!
The mayor keeps saying he has a plan....said the same thing months ago. The only committee person on that dais that has a clue is Sean Byrnes.
Too bad the rest of them don't have the integrity to recognize the value of Sean's experience. That will never happen because the majority may have to much to hide.
There a chance to fix this in November and we should remember bipartisan government is healthy.
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