September 17, 2018 Middletown Township Committee Meeting

I just finished watching the video of this past Monday night's Middletown Township Committee meeting. It started off as your regular, run of the mill monthly event. The Township promoted two police officers due to recent retirements and an ordinance was adopted to acquire property along Rt. 36 in Pt. Monmouth to be used as a vehicle impound facility. And an ordinance to amend the redevelopment plan for the new municipal complex was moved to the November 19 meeting.

The most interesting part of this meeting and the real highlight of it that should interest everyone, was the Public Comments portion of the video, which starts at the 22:14 minute mark of the video.

Many local residents came out to passionately voice their opposition to the proposed sports complex that is being planned for Stevenson Park, off of West Front Street in Lincroft.

After the first person voiced their opposition to the plan, acting mayor Kevin Settembrino started that members of the Township Committee will be meeting with residents of Shady Oaks in the coming days to answer any questions that residents living there would have. He then stated that if those he called upon to speak to the committee refrain from asking or rehashing questions about the sports complex. As you can expect, that comment didn't go over well and residents continued with their line of questioning.

During much of the questioning, those speaking were interrupted incessantly and often combatively, by both acting deputy-mayor Tony Fire and acting-mayor Kevin Settembrino.  In the end however, more than a dozen people, which included Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry, voiced their opposition to this complex being built at Stevenson Park.

Will their voices be heard? Based on responses by members of the Township Committee, probably not.  We'll have to stay tuned.




As always you can download a copy of the Meeting Agenda that contains the discussion items and the proposed resolutions and ordinances that were voted on or presented during the meeting. A box around an item is a link, bringing you further into the document to that resolution or ordinance. At the end of the resolution there will be a link bringing you back to the agenda. Attached to this agenda is also the monthly bill list, so that everyone can see how the Township is spending our tax dollars.

Upcoming Traffic Alerts

Via Middletown Matters Weekly Newsletter:

Middletown-Lincroft Rd Overnight Closures Start Tuesday, September 22nd
Middletown-Lincroft Road (Rt 520) between Sunnyside Road and Four Winds Drive will be closed for 4 nights starting at 9:00 pm on Tuesday night, September 22, to allow for improvements a Garden State Parkway overpass. The road will be closed nightly from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am until Saturday morning, September 26. Work is weather dependent-

There will be no vehicular or pedestrian traffic allowed during the construction periods. The road will returned to a secure and safe condition at 5:00 am each morning.

The closure is required to permit the Garden State Parking to make necessary repairs to overpass at Mile Marker 112. Work includes repairs to the steel structure and replacement of I-beams. Construction will resume until early October. Follow posted detours. Seek alternate routes. Please contact Middletown Traffic Safety at 732-615-2045 for more information.

West Front Street Overnight Closures Start September 28 For Paving
Starting at 8:00pm on Monday, September 28th, West Front Street from Half Mile Road to Hubbard Avenue will be closed for 4 nights for paving. The road will be closed nightly from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am until Friday morning, October 2nd. Work is weather dependent.

NJ Natural Gas will be milling and paving West Front Street from Half Mile Road to Hubbard Avenue. This is the final phase of the improvements to the NJ Natural Gas infrastructure on West Front Street. The road will closed to vehicular traffic during the construction periods. Follow posted detours. Call Middletown Traffic Safety at 732-615-2045 for more information.

Traffic Alert: Hubbard Avenue Closure 27, 8 am to 4pm

from Middletown Alerts:

A portion of Hubbard Avenue will be closed from 8am to 4pm on Saturday, Saturday, December 27th, weather permitting, so Monmouth County can make emergency repairs on the road. There will be no through traffic, but residents can access their properties. Thank you for your continued cooperation and patience. In addition, there will be intermittent lane closures on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Hubbard Avenue and other roads on the Middletown side of the West Front Street Bridge. The work being is done by the County in preparation of the Jan closure of the West Front Street Bridge.

W. Front St Closure Begins Mon, 5/19

Well I can see this being a real pain in the butt!

Recently posted on Middletown Township website:

Starting Monday, May 19, West Front Street will be closed in both directions near Jumping Brook Bridge (near the Stevenson Tract) for approximately four weeks. Please follow the posted detour. Residents West of Jumping Brook Bridge will need to access their homes from the West. People East of the Bridge need to access their homes from the East. The Shady Oaks community should access their homes using Middletown-Lincroft Road during this time. Adjustments are being made to school bus stops to ensure affected students are picked up and dropped off safely. The closure is part of an ongoing New Jersey American Water project to install new a water main on West Front Street from Middletown-Lincroft Road to Half Mile Road.

West Front Street Main Replacement Project

From Middletown Alerts:


New Jersey American Water is installing new a water main on West Front Street from Middletown-Lincroft Road to Half Mile Road. The road is closed from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday during construction. Please follow posted detours. Construction is slated to continue until June 2014 barring any unforeseen weather conditions. Call the Middletown Traffic Division at 732-615-2045 regarding any concerns you may have.

• W. Front Street Detour - East
• West Front Street Detour - West

The Issue of Artificial Turf Fields In Middletown Was Officially Put To Rest With Resolution 10-310

Last night's Middletown Township Committee meeting brought the official end to the artificial turf field issue. The committee voted 3-1 to approve Resolution 10-310, which authorized that the unused bonded money that was meant for the installation of two artificial turf fields at West Front Street Park and Croydon Hall, be used instead to pay down existing bond debt.

In the audio clip below Committeewoman Pam Brightbill discusses why she reluctantly voted to approve the resolution, after which you can hear why outgoing Committeeman Sean Byrnes voted against it.



The one curious thing about Resolution 10-310 is the fact that it is the only resolution that was discussed last night that has not made it's way onto the Township's website, for some reason it is missing. I am wondering if it has anything to due with the potential controversy that may surround it.

The controversy being that the original bond that was issued in 2006 which allocated funding for the turf fields specifically stated that these funds could not be used for any other purpose other than recreation, and with the nature of bond issues those funds cannot be used for the purpose offsetting operational budgets.

Using these bonded funds to pay off debt may not be legal,so until the resolution is made available to the public we'll just have to wait to see how the Township intends to do this.

What Is Happening With The Bond For The Middletown Turf Fields?

On tonight's agenda for the Middeltown Township Committee Workshop meeting there will be a discussion about capital improvement projects and existing bonds and what to do about them. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do with the bonds the town is sitting on, namely the bond that was issued to fund the artificial turf projects for Croydon Hall and Trezza Field.

If we can all remember back to this past January when residents of Lincroft teamed up with members of the Pop Warner Chargers football organization when they found out that the long promised field restoration for Trezza Field (the home of the Chargers) was not going to happen, instead the funds for the turf project at Trezza Field was going to be diverted to West Front Street Park,caused so much trouble for Gerry Scharfenberger and Pam Brightbill earlier this year that they decided to cancel the turf projects all together in April.

The sudden decision to cancel the turf projects left everyone stunned at the time and questioning what was going to happen with the $2.6 million bond that was issued to fund the projects. The bond's language as written was very specific, the funds couldn't be used for anything else other than field restoration.

The following audio clip contains comments made by Middletown Attorney Brian Nelson, Middletown Township Town Administrator Tony Mercantante and mayor Gerry Scharfenberger during Workshop meetings on February 1st and March 1st,and seems to confirm that. The audio documents what the three men had been saying about the bonded money that was to be used for the construction of turf fields prior to the sudden announcement that the field project was going to be cancelled and the bonded funds returned.




Fast forward now to the last Township Committee meeting held on July 19th.

Lincroft resident and founding member of the citizens group SONIC (which opposed the turf project at West Front Street Park), Mary Mahoney, addressed the Township Committee about the unused Turf Bond that was to be used for artificial turf fields at Trezza Field, West Front Street Park and Croydon Hall. She wanted to know what was happening with the bonded money,

was there any plans to use it for anything else, how much of it had been spent and why wasn't it retired as of yet to save the township interest payments on it.

She seemed to have taken the the Township Committee and those that make the decisions on such things by surprise. Listen to it below:



About 1:10 into her comments CFO Nick Trasente is heard saying that the bond funds could be used for other facilities, used to pay down debt or retired, which is contrary to earlier remarks made by Township Attorney Brian Nelson and Scharfenberger, who had stated at earlier meetings and can be heard above in the 1st audio clip, that the bond had to be retired if not used for turf fields and couldn't be used for anything else.

So, what are Gerry and the boys planning on doing with the funds from this bond? It seems that they are trying to figure out a way to apply it to the budget in order to decrease 14% tax rate increase in this years municipal budget that has not been adopted yet.

If this is a concern to anyone then you should attend tonights meeting at Town Hall, it starts at 8pm. Get there early for a good seat.

In Light Of The Mayor's Decision to Cancel The Lincroft Sports Complex Lets Revist SONIC's Letter

Now that the Mayor has declared the West Front Street and Croydon Hall sports complexes null and void due to the alleged economic condition, I thought it might be relevant to re post the letter that SONIC wrote to him and the Township Committee back in early February.

After sending Gerry Scharfenberger their letter, SONIC later went on to meet with the Mayor on Saturday February 12th to discuss the issues that were outlined in the letter during his weekly office hours.

The reasons SONIC opposed this development were reasonably stated with valid concerns.

What stands out most to me are the 2 paragraphs highlighted regarding SONIC'S questioning the timing of this expenditure during these current bad economic times. As well as their suggested solutions which the Mayor had promised to follow through with but never did.

It finally took the Governor's convenient cut in aid (even though for many months the Mayor and others insisted that the cost of the new fields would not effect the current budget process), to get the Mayor to recognize what SONIC had been saying all along.

Expansion of Useage of the Field at West Front Street in Lincroft
February 11, 2010

Dear Mayor Scharfenberger,

I am writing this letter on behalf of a recently formed group of residents from the Lincroft Community who choose to be known as “Save Our Neighborhood’s Integrity & Character” or “SONIC” for short. This group is principally comprised of residents in and around the West Front Street soccer fields, however we are receiving support from residents and various groups in Middletown and Holmdel as a result of your announced expansion plans. It is our sincere pledge to work with you and the entire Middletown Township Committee with regard to the stated Mission of the Township, which as per Township’s own letterhead is to “Save a Life, Save a Neighborhood, Save Taxes.”

SONIC has no objection to improving these grass fields making them safer for soccer and other sports but we do not support the amenities to the sports complex. We strongly object to the plans for 70 foot tall lights, an expanded parking lot, chain link fence, public address system, snack bar and storage facilities. This represents an entirely different type and concentration of activity; permanently changing the character and integrity of the neighborhood. These changes or what was characterized as improvements are the main reasons why we feel so betrayed by you, our elected officials, in not fully disclosing your intent and the extent of this development.

The following is a list of the key elements that SONIC believes make the West Front Street site not suitable or appropriate for the intended expansion:

A Serious Traffic Hazard:
The intersection of West Front Street and Crawfords Corner/Everett Road, a county road, already is a heavily utilized traffic area. It serves as a main route into Red Bank, to various elementary and pre-schools, Brookdale Community College, CBA, as well as a route from Holmdel and elsewhere into the Town itself. Increased activity, such as Pop Warner football , will serve to increase traffic in an unbearable way, leading to a major safety hazard for those who reside and worship in the area and for the children living in and around West Front Street Park. Even with the expanded parking lot in the proposal, with the inevitable tournaments or back to back games there will be insufficient parking available. Where would the cars go but spill onto West Front St, Everett Road and side streets? Required or not, we request a traffic study be done by the county.

Drainage:
There will be drainage issues that accompany the current plan to install a drainage pipe through the easement between 109 and 111 University Dr. Natural springs and poor drainage already exist in this location.

Lighting and Sound System:
There is little to no natural buffer for the homes on Tuller Ct, Everett Road and University Drive to protect from the tall lights and P/A system. The homeowners on University Drive are very concerned with the removal of trees which may be necessary for installation of an artificial turf football field, sidelines, and additional buildings. This would further reduce an already insufficient buffer and affect our quality of life.

On Table 19 of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, of the 12 properties considered for a synthetic turf field, West Front Street Park ranked low in topography, available parking, drainage and size. Thompson Middle School and Nut Swamp School ranked considerably better in all criteria. West Front Streets overall ranking was the lowest of all available fields in the area with the exception of Nut Swamp Park.

In addition to the above issues as to why this site is inappropriate, we question the timing of this expenditure. With a projected budget deficit of $5.0MM for our Township this year, when residents are losing their jobs and others are struggling to get by on reduced incomes and reeling from increased property taxes, building a “multi-sport” complex appears extravagant. Not having a CFO and a Finance Committee in place to review all the options is, in our view causing unwise financial decisions to be made. Awarding a nearly $200,000 contract to CMX engineering before plans were appropriately vetted with those directly affected seems equally irresponsible.

Common sense and public duty requires you to act responsibly by pursuing solutions that leverage existing assets for the betterment of the entire community. One solution would be to apply a portion of the $2.5MM in funds the Township received from the bonds issued in 2006 for capital expenditures for Parks and Recreation in order to reduce the deficit and reserve a portion to improve the parking and grass condition of the existing Trezza Field. We already have two artificial turf fields in town and these are not just expensive to build but also costly to maintain. Would it not be better to resume discussion with the Board of Education to seek a Shared Use Agreement for the use of these fields? In reviewing the public correspondence between the BOE and MTC from June through September regarding the Proposed Shared Services/Land Use Agreement, we believe the BOE did their part to work this out. To claim that the BOE “lawyered up” as the reason for the failed negotiations is just not acceptable. Moreover, the President of the BOE has personally agreed to readdress this issue and the members of SONIC urge you to do so.

Accordingly, SONIC respectfully requests that prior to the February 16th Middletown Township Committee meeting a few of our members meet with you in your office to have an open and honest exchange of ideas, preferably this coming Saturday, since you will be available as a result of last week’s snowstorm. It is our hope and desire to resolve this issue for the benefit of the community as a whole and restore our trust in our elected officials.

Cordially,

On behalf of the below representatives of SONIC, et al

Sarah Hammond, Mary Mahoney, Jeffrey Blumengold, Stanley Gelfman, Trish Thomson, Jodi Molasani, Marianne Musella, and Peter Simpson

It's too bad that in the end arrogance and bad planning on the part of Mayor Scharfenberger and others is what really doomed the sports complexes. If the Mayor and others would have stuck to the orginal plan to improve Trezza Field, the home of the Pop Warner Chargers, instead of insisting that the Chargers except West Front Street Park as their new home, both Trezza Field and Croydon Hall would be having new turf fields installed as we speak and opposition to the turf projects would have been muted.

Instead the Mayor, like a 3rd grader took his fields and went home, blaming the Governor along the way instead of looking into the mirror that would have shown the egg on his face.

What Were They Saying Before The Decision To Cancel The Sports Complex

I went back to my archivist to see if he could grabbed me some audio clips of what everyone had to say about using the bonded funds for the artificial turf fields for other uses.

He sent me 5 clips of Township Attorney Brian Nelson,Township Administrator Tony Mercantante and Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger stating that the bond money has to be used for recreation or turf fields. These clips are from Committee meetings on February 1st, March 1st and March 15th .

Nelson and Mercantante address a person's question concerning whether or not the bond for the turf fields could be appropriated for other use during the February 1st meeting.

Scharfenberger adds his two cents in the following three sound bites, the first two of which are from the March 1st Township Committee Workshop meeting where he is heard saying that the money for the turf fields could not be used for other projects but could be appropriated for a different facility. He later stated that the turf fields were part of Green Acres and there for needed to be discussed at an official public meeting that would be scheduled for the end of March.

The last clip is from the March 15th Township Committee meeting and is of Mayor Scharfenberger announcing that the resolution that would give the go ahead for CMX Engineering to finalize plans and proceed to mark up project bidding specifications for the sports complex at West Front Street was being pulled, but they were going to move ahead with the field at WFSP anyway just not with all the amenities.

Then all of a sudden at the informal March 23th Neighborhood Meeting at Croydon Hall, Gerry Scharfenberger announced that himself and those members of the Township Committee that were in attendance that evening came to a consensus decision to cancel the turf project all together due to concerns over state aid figures that he had just been informed of, and because of this the Township would recall the bond and return the money to the lender.

Using the decline in state aid as a cover story for cancelling the turf projects was just a convenient excuse on Scharfenberger's end. Both he and Pam Brightbill, had been telling everyone for months prior to the meeting that the bonded funds for the turf fields had no impact on the budget and based on the article that appeared in the Independent, the Township knew a week earlier about the state aid cut, which they had been talking about for the past few Committee meetings anyway.

So will the audio shine anymore light onto the shady dealing that go on down at Town Hall? Not really, but they do give a little bit of insight into the thinking of for what and how the money that was bonded for the turf fields in 2006 could be used for even if it was contrary to the actual language of the bond ordinance.

What Did Tony Fiore Have To Say About Trezza Field?

Middletown Deputy Mayor Tony Fiore, was not able to attend the March 15,2010 Township Meeting but was able to participate via phone call from Orlando Florida while attending work related business.

His comments were made after the business portion of the meeting was finished, during the Committee comments portion of the meeting just before the floor was opened up to the public.

He agreed with much of what Committeeman Sean Byrnes had to say about COAH and the rezoning of the Avaya property in Lincroft then went on to address the concerns over Trezza Field.

At approximately 2:35 into the audio Fiore starts to address Resolution 10-121 (Resolution 10-121 was going to authorize CMX Engineering to finish design plans for the West Front Street sports complex and develop specs so that the project could go out for bid) and the reason why the Committee pulled if from of the agenda and did not vote on it.

At approximately 5:05 into the audio Fiore talks about how, if differences with the BOE can't be worked out and if there was a possibility that some improvements could be done at Trezza Field then it could be done from the "...design from "OUR" engineers or the perspective of "OUR" professionals come through, we may have to go down that road..."

With that type of thinking in mind prior to Alan Vrable's presentation and the many other people that spoke in opposition to the project, one would diffinately get the idea that no matter what plans or ideas residents came up with, Fiore and crew were not, could not or will not throw their professionals under the bus by stopping the work that would be going on at West Front Street.

But the question remains, what will the Township do about Trezza Field? Will they or wont they take the Chargers/Sonic design plan for Trezza Field seriously enough to stop sports complex from going forward at West Front Street and be redirected where it was orginally intended to be, at Trezza Field?

We should hear something soon.

Comments Made By Sean Byrnes During The March 15th Township Committee Meeting: The Budget, COAH And Trezza Field

When it came time for Committee comments after the business part of the March 15th Middletown Township Committee Meeting, Committeeman Sean Byrnes had a lot to say.

Sean Byrnes address his support of the efforts that Governor Christie was making towards potentially solving the State's budget crisis and how he hoped that Middletown would be able to address it's own budget problems. Byrnes went on the discuss the potential changes to the COAH laws and hoped that once COAH was redefined Middeltown would be able to zone back recent rezoned properties around town to their prior pre- COAH zoning, most noticably the Avaya property in Lincroft.

Byrnes then went on to address the issue of turf fields in town and his potential support to relook at the fesiblity of expanding Trezza Field, the current home of the Pop Warner Chargers, instead of supporting the planned sports complex at West Front Street that has been loudly opposed by the Chargers and the citizens group SONIC.

As you can imaging, Byrnes gained a rousing and vocal show of support for his comments by the members of the Chargers and SONIC that were in attendance.

His comments about Trezza Field start about 4 minutes into the audio clip below for those that are interested in hearing what Sean Byrnes had to say.

Audio: Vrable Solves Middletown's Problem During Township Committee Meeting

By now everyone that is interested in or effected by the proposed sports complex in Lincroft that the township wants to build is familiar with the events that transpired during the Middletown Township Committee meeting on March 15, 2010.

You know that the meeting was loud, raucous and at times on the verge of being out of control if you were lucky enough to be there. If not, I have a series of audio clips from the night that I will be sharing over the next couple of day that will let everyone know exactly what they missed.

The audio clip that I have posted is of Lincroft resident Alan Vrable, who was speaking on the behalf of both the River Plaza/ Lincroft Chargers Pop Warner Football team and SONIC (Save Our Neighborhood's Integrity & Character).

Vrable presented a detailed, engineered plan to the Township Committee that show beyond a reasonable doubt that Trezza Field ( the home of the Chargers) could in fact be resurfaced and expanded into a multi-purpose sports facility with little impact on the wetlands, that Township engineers have given as a reason why Trezza Field could not be upgraded in favor of West Front Street Park.





This is the first of 6 audio clips that I will be posting between now and the weekend from Monday nights meeting.

The other clips include comments from Sean Byrnes, Tony Fiore and Jim Cody questioning Pam Brightbill, which isn't to be missed. It was classic!!

APP Monday Night Follow-Up: Middletown Examining Residents' Plan For Ballfields

I was happy to see that Kevin Penton and the Asbury Park Press wrote a follow-up article that appeared in print today about the events that transpired during Monday night's Middeltown Township Committee meeting.

Today's article gave a better depiction of the events that went down Monday night then the first article that was published yesterday.

In this article Penton has quotes from Township Administrator Tony Mercantante, who many feel is the real person behind the West Front Street field proposal.

In the article Mercantante is quoted as saying "If it fits, it fits, but that is yet to be determined.", which was in reference to the multipurpose field, two baseball fields and 221 parking spaces depicted on the plan which was presented by Alan Vrable on behalf of the River Plaza/Lincroft Chargers Pop Warner Football team that plays it games at Trezza Field, to the Township Committee.

Vrable told Mercantante and the Township Committee that the plan for Trezza Field was based on the 2007 T&M Engineering wetlands study, the same study that the township used to determine that Trezza field was not a viable location for the field upgrade and which made the Township decide to build the sports complex at West Front Street instead.

The article also went on to state:

"Middletown's analysis of the residents' plan will include a cost estimate for earth disturbance so parking spaces can be added to Trezza Field, Mercantante said. The residents' plan eliminates a playground and a basketball court that are currently at the site, he said." ...

And concludes with words from Mayor Scharfenberger about how the Committee would take a serious look at the plan and determine if the plan was a viable alternative or not.

On the surface you may want to take what Mercantante and Scharfenberger had to say at face value and give the the benefit of the doubt, but after thinking about the quotes I was left to think that this just may be lip service.

Mercantante didn't seem convinced that the plan would work and seemed to question the fact that the plan as presented by Alan Vrable eliminated a playground and a basketball court in favor of parking.

Would eliminating a playground and a basketball court be considered a viable alturnative by Mayor Scharfenberger? I don't know.

Also I would like to point out that in both of Kevin Penton's articles on the meeting he quoted Deputy Mayor Tony Fiore who was not there but was on the phone from Orlando Florida attending a work related continuing education class, about how the closing down of CMX Engineering was just a little speed bump in the road and that it wouldn't hold up the process of deciding about the installation of the fields.

But what stood out to me during Fiore's comments wasn't what he had to say about CMX but what he said about the field installations in general, which was that the Committee would listen to "OUR" engineers and "OUR" professionals when determining what would be the best location for the installation of turf fields.

With this all being considered, I wonder if Mercantante, Scharfenberger and Fiore meant what they said, because if they do except the plans that were presented on the behalf of the Chargers than they would be admitting that their engineering firm gave them bad advice or is incompetant and they would be throwing them under the proverbial bus if they don't proceed with the exsisting plan for building the sports complex at West Front Street.

RedBankGreen: MIDDLETOWN FIELD DEBATE HEATS TO A BOIL

Reporter Dustin Racioppi from RedBankGreen.com also attended last nights Middletown Township Committee meeting, I think his article did a better job at capturing the overall atmosphere and feelings that were present in the room, more so than what was published in the Asbury Park Press. He also has a few good pictures worth checking out.

Below is his take on how things went last night:

Podium pounding. Yelling. Fingerpointing. The only things missing from Monday night’s Township Committee meeting were pitchforks and torches.

To say the least, the residents are getting restless.

About 200 of them turned out to hear how the town intended to go forward with contentious plans to upgrade two athletic areas to artificial turf and add more fields to them in order to accommodate more sports. Many came to voice their concerns, some to give the committee a stern talking to and others just to grandstand.

It wasn’t for naught.

Because of a potential sale of the project’s engineer, CMX Engineering, the committee decided not to move forward just yet in finalizing plans to upgrade fields at Croydon Hall and West Front Street Park.

The governing body also nixed its plans to add lighting, a public announcement system and concession stand at West Front, which have long been a bone of contention among neighbors.

Still, a certain level of outrage remained concerning West Front.

A number of residents in the Lincroft section of town — at least 400, if you go by signed petitions gathered by resident Mary Mahoney — are against the town’s plan in one way or another. Some believe that although the committee resolved not to add the amenities now, it may try to do so in the future.

A seemingly larger number are still angered because they’d rather see Trezza Field, the longtime home of Pop Warner’s Chargers, get the improvements.

Originally the committee wanted that, too. But plans drawn up by T&M Associates to add baseball fields, multi-use fields and parking to Trezza Field proved to be an unwise choice for the town, primarily because of limited space and surrounding wetlands, said Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger. As a result, the focus shifted to the fields at West Front Street.

Since then, residents have decried the plan, saying it will increase traffic and otherwise alter the area’s quality of life. And at the meeting, Allen Vrabel tried to prove that T&M was wrong, when he took his five minutes of the public comment portion to break out a schematic drawing from an unnamed engineer and pass out copies of it to the crowd showing that the fields will fit at Trezza with sufficient parking and without impinging on wetlands.

The crowd erupted with hoots and applause.

“What you’re proposing is like putting a square peg in a round hole on West Front Street,” Vrabel said. “These can go out to bid tomorrow.”

Vrabel’s comments opened up the gates for the public to skewer the committee, which took it with aplomb — particularly Scharfenberger, who got an earful from Barbara Thorpe.

Thorpe, who scolded Scharfenberger for not paying close enough attention to her, argued that now isn’t the time to spend the estimated $2.5 million on these upgrades.

“Your priorities are all screwed up,” she said to Sharfenberger. “I don’t know what planet you come from or live on, but you are oblivious.”

The $2.5 million to support the field upgrades comes from money set aside in a 2006 bonding package, and is specifically approved for the fields, Committeewoman Pamela Brightbill said.

More pressing at the moment, though, is the fate of CMX. Scharfenberger said he’s not sure of the specifics or how a sale could potentially affect the timeline of the field work, but said the town is looking into it.

“There’s lots of variables. We’re sort of in limbo right now,” he said.

Scharfenberger said the committee is going to also look into the feasibility of Vrabel’s proposal.

“We’re going to look at this very seriously. We wanted to put (more fields) at Trezza, but conditions, as we explained, precluded that,” Scharfenberger said. “We’re going to consider everything that is viable.”

What's The Latest News On The Lincroft Sports Complex?

So what's the latest news swirling around the proposed Lincroft Sports Complex? In each of this weeks editions of the Independent and the Two River Times are articles dedicated to the happens at the most recent Middletown Workshop Meeting that took place on March 1st. Both articles are well written and represents what took place pretty well.

The Independent focus was on the on going negotiations between the Board of Education and the Township over a shared service agreement that would allow the Pop Warner Football League to play games at Middletown High School South before getting into the meat and potatoes of the nights events, while the Two River Times jumped right into it.

Here are excerpts from each article:

The Independent - Talks between the Middletown Township Committee and the Board of Education will reopen to discuss allowing local sports associations to use fields at Middletown High School South.

A preliminary design plan for West Front Street Park was placed on the Middletown Township website for the public to review. The existing soccer fields would be replaced with a synthetic turf field.

Mayor Gerard P. Scharfenberger and Deputy Mayor Anthony Fiore announced at the March 1 Township Committee meeting that they would be meeting with members of the board to discuss field usage on public school property.

“We sent a letter to the Board of Ed. today officially asking to allow the Pop Warner leagues to use High School South for their games,” Scharfenberger said. “I think that would go a long way to solve a lot of the problems and would be the best solution for all the parties involved.”

He added, “I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

The township has proposed a plan for West Front Street Park, off Crawfords Corner/ Everett Road, to replace the existing soccer fields with a synthetic turf field designed for football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse to be used by the public and local sports associations.

The proposal also calls for the Croydon Hall Complex, located on Leonardville Road, to have its football field replaced with an artificial turf field. A total of $2.5 million in unspent recreation funds would be used for the two projects.

The letter reads, “Specifically, the Township would like to request that the River Plaza/Lincroft Pop Warner Football program be permitted to utilize the football field and associated facilities at High School South for their five to six annual home games that take place on Sundays. Practices and other activities would still be able to take place at their current field while the West Front Street filed is resurfaced with turf for use by other leagues, but the need to utilize lighting, a public address system and concessions is lessened.”

Laura Agin, Middletown Board of Education president, said negotiations are under way.

“We’ve worked with the Township Committee and with shared services,” Agin said on March 4. “We’ve had concessions with them about the fields, and I think we will continue to work with them.”

However, a group in the Jersey Shore Football League weighed in on the controversy at the March 1 meeting....

The Two River Times - Controversy continues to swirl around a proposed plan by the Middletown Township Committee to construct a multi-purpose athletic field at the intersection of West Front Street and Everett Road in Lincroft.

Residents from the potentially affected area once again came out en masse to voice their opposition to the proposal as it currently stands and urged the committee to reconsider constructing the field at a different location.

However, this round of rhetoric included supporters of the proposal primarily from active Pop Warner families, athletes, coaches, and members of the Middletown Athletic Club.

The most telling message sent to the committee might have come from Kevin O'Reilly, Vice President of the River Plaza Chargers, whose future home has been an ongoing topic of conversation among the committee members, the board of education, and area residents but has not, until Monday night, included the River Plaza Chargers organization.

Middletown Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger opened the meeting by allowing those in attendance to speak to this issue but not before he addressed the crowd with an update from the committee's perspective.

"We sent a letter to the Board of Education today officially asking them to allow the Pop Warner league to use High School South for their games. I think that will go a long way to solving a lot of the problems and be the best solution for all parties involved," Scharfenberger said.

Deputy Mayor Anthony Fiore also offered an updated position on the issue.

"My position (at the previous meeting) was to find a way for River Plaza Pop Warner to play five or six games at High School South. From what I understand it's not feasible to redo the facility at Trezza Field (the Chargers current home field). It's my viewpoint, if we are able to work with the Board of Education and potentially make improvements to their field we would not have to have lights or a P.A. system at West Front Street," Fiore said.

Fiore added that the idea would be that the Pop Warner teams practice at Trezza and play their games at High School South. Fiore also noted that the existing soccer fields at West Front Street would still be resurfaced and improved but without lighting and a public address system.

"I think that pretty much satisfies everything I've heard over the last month," Fiore said.

Not according to O'Reilly.

The River Plaza Pop Warner league sent a letter to the Township Committee outlining eight needs of the league to continue operating regardless of its location. One of those needs was a fully functioning snack bar. Additionally as important were adequate restroom facilities.

According to O'Reilly, the Pop Warner league exists solely on the revenues generated by the operation of the snack bar of which High School South does not provide.

"I wish you people would speak to us because Middletown South doesn't work," O'Reilly said. "We play on Saturday, we play on Sunday, we play on Monday, and we also sometimes play on Wednesday and all of our revenue is from the snack bar."

The money generated by the snack bar, which can range between four and seven thousand dollars each game day goes toward operational costs to run the league according to O'Reilly.

"To redo the helmets is thousands and thousands of dollars," O'Reilly said....

So what have I heard over the past few days? As I said, it has been quite but here are a few things:

The meeting between the Mayor and Deputy-Mayor with the Board of Education on Thursday March 4th didn't go as well as the Independent may have made it out to have mainly because the Pop Warner Chargers have made it loud and clear that playing football at High School South would not benefit their organization at all.

Contrary to what Mayor Scharfenberger and others who represent the Township say a wetlands study of Trezza Field, the home of the Pop Warner Chargers, was conducted back in June of 2007 by the Township's engineering firm T&M and it seems to confirm everything that the football people have been saying all along, that Trezza Field can be expanded and resurfaced as originally planned. The Chargers, with help from their own engineer, came up with a new site proposal for Trezza Field and shared it with Mayor Scharfenberger earlier in the week. The site proposal will be introduced to the Committee Monday night at the next scheduled Committee Meeting.

And members of SONIC are still gathering petitions signatures against the sports complex to be presented at Monday night's Township Committee meeting. SONIC members will be out in force that night to once again voice their concerns.

Sparks Flew At Monday Night's Workshop Meeting In Middletown

The issue of the proposed Lincroft Sports Complex has become a ticking time bomb that is getting closer to detonation and based on the outcome of this past Monday nights' Workshop meeting in Middletown, the Township committee did nothing to defuse the situation in he minds of many who attended.

I arrived late to the meeting Monday night because I attended the wake of a dear family friend.

When I walked through the doors of Town Hall shortly after 8:40 pm, I was not surprised to see that the small conference room located near the Clerks Office, where Workshop meetings usually take place, dark and empty. The meeting had been moved to Middletown's Town Hall courtroom. And when I walked into the courtroom I saw why. There had to easily be 60 or more people in attendance when normally fewer than a dozen show up for Workshop meetings.

Many of those in attendance were from SONIC (Save Our Neighborhood's Integrity & Character), the River Plaza/ Lincroft Chargers and Middletown Eagles Pop Warner teams along with a sprinkling of soccer parents.

I expected to walk in during the normal business portion of the meeting but that was not the case. The Mayor, in a tactic that I believe was designed to limit the opportunity of those in attendance from speaking, decided to allow the delay of the business portion of the meeting in favor of letting those in attendance voice their concerns about the proposed sports complex. In so doing, the mayor placed a one-hour time limit for discussion, hoping in my opinion, that those that did not have a chance to speak would not stick around long enough for public comments at the end to voice their concerns and just go home. As it turned out however that was not the case, many stayed passed midnight to have their voices heard.

Due to the format change to the agenda, I missed much of that first hour’s discussion but what I did hear was fiery nonetheless.

People who were there to voice their concerns in favor of the Chargers football program stated that they did not want to leave their field of 61 years to move to a facility, that in their opinion would not be adequate for their program. They questioned why a new synthetic turf field could not be installed at Trezza Field, where they currently practice during the week and play on weekends, as spelled out in the original $2.5 million bond ordinance signed by then Mayor Hall in 2006.

The Pop Warner group offered many suggestions as to how the currant field location could be upgraded by eliminating two unused baseball fields and by asking if the small parcel of wetlands that border a portion of the area could be worked around somehow. They also voiced concerns about the West Front Street location because there would be no amenities like snack bar available to them. It seems that the snack bar is the one major source of the team’s revenue that they depend on and cannot survive without.

The Committee allowed the Township Administrator Tony Mercantante and the Township Engineer Ted Mahoney, to answer and basically told the Pop Warner people sorry. Trezza Field just wasn’t big enough and could not be expanded any further to accommodate them and nothing could be done about wetlands issues. Of course all kinds of catcalls then ensued.

Members of SONIC spoke against the West Front Street location as well and questioned why other sites that had been rated higher on the Park and Recreation Master plan, such as Nut Swamp Park is not being consider for the sports complex. The answer to that question, which the members of SONIC and the other groups have heard before but still believe to be a farce, is that the terrain of the park makes the location not cost effective because too much work would have the be done to level to playing area and provide proper drainage, which perplexed the questioners because, after all, Nut Swamp had been rated higher.

During the Committee Comments portion of the meeting, which took place about 90 minutes later, Sean Byrnes spoke to the issue of the fields and stated how the township has to do a better job of planning how it handles recreation issues in the future to avoid these types of conflicts with residents. He stated that the process is haphazard and flawed and that through better planning, fields all through out the township could be utilized.

Committeewoman Brightbill and Mayor Scharfenberger addressed the issue during comments by say that many of the rumors and conspiracy theories surrounding the issue of the sports complex is just that, rumors and conspiracy issues. They stated that there is a lot of planning and discussions that are happening behind closed doors because it is “a very complicated issue” and contrary to what people have heard or read much of it is not true.

The meeting was then opened back up for public comments, but if you had spoken earlier you could not speak again to follow-up on a point or comment, and I left shortly afterward.

Based on what I witnessed and what others have told me it doesn’t seem like the Mayor and the Committee did anything to defuse the anger and bewilderment of any of those in attendance Monday night over this sports complex. Many felt that the Mayor Scharfenberger was condensating, insincere and not to be trusted, while others felt letdown and betrayed on this issue and are vowing to fight.

Here’s what a couple of posters on the NJ.com Middletown forum had to say about Monday night’s meeting:

21747. Scharfy's tries to duck and lie
by chargerfan20, 3/2/10 8:15 ET
What show at township meeting last night. Lies , lies and more lies. Heard mayor wants to throw Chargers off Trezza Field if they don't shut up. West Front st field and South field can't handle chargers program.

21747.1. so right you are...what has to be done
by divebojangels, 3/2/10 8:55 ET
Re: Scharfy's tries to duck and lie by divebojangels, 3/2/10
is at sign ups pass out a paper telling the parents to vote for the jackass party in nov...thats the only way this can be resolved...get rid of all those elephants....talk about ramming through a field ...there just unbelievable...and all they do is lie...amazing how they can sit there and say there for the people....

21750. croydan hall will get there new turf field
by divebojangels, 3/2/10 9:01 ET
and get to play on it all 7 days,to go along with there snack stands and lights and bathrooms....but the chargers get to play n6 days at the dog park,and on the 7 day are being ask to move up to front street to play without lights a bathroom,and most of all no snack stands....just amazing....its time for lincroft the step child of middletown to vote for the jackasses...bounce all those elephants out...all they do is lie

21750.1. What about Chargers???
by chargerfan20, 3/2/10 9:23 ET
Re: croydan hall will get there new turf field by chargerfan20, 3/2/10
they were so two faced last night. Not thinking about the chargers just about their own little @#%'s. When will they listento people in this town? NEVER

Corrections:

1). Members of SONIC questioned the field at Nutswamp School which was rated higher than WFS, not Nutswamp Park. Nutswamp school is the property that the BOE offered to the MTC in lieu of Thompson school.

2). The Township Engineer's name is Ted Maloney not Mahoney as stated above.

Sorry if this cause any confusion.

Workshop Meeting Tonight in Middletown Is One That's Not To Be Missed

Middletown has a workshop meeting scheduled for tonight down at Town Hall and from all indications it's not to be missed!

Accusations of improprieties have been flying around the issue of the proposed Lincroft Sports Complex that is scheduled to start construction sometime in April.

Has there been or hasn't there been wetland studies that would prevent the upgrading of Trezza Field/Charger Field, the current home of the River Plaza/ Lincroft Chargers Pop Warner team? Has Freeholder John Curley, a resident at the Shadow Lake complex that borders Trezza Field/Charger Field, used his influence in someway to steer the sports complex away from his residence at Shadow Lake and over to the currently planned site of Lincroft's West Front Street Park? Did Park and Recreation's director Greg Silva tell members of the RP/L Chargers that he has a construction company all lined up that would have the new home of the Chargers ready to play on by August if the Chargers agreed to moved from their present location?

These questions and many more will be asked of members of the Township Committee tonight when members from the Pop Warner Chargers, Middletown Soccer Club and the citizens group SONIC flood the meeting room tonight.

The Workshop meeting starts at 8pm, but if you want a good seat I would suggest you get there early because prime seating locations fill up fast if the meeting is not moved to the court house.

If tonights meeting shapes up the way that I anticipate, it will beat anything that you could possible watch on T.V this evening!

What The Heck Is Going On With The Lincroft Sports Complex?

What the heck is going on with the Lincroft Sports Complex? It sounds like some improprieties are taking place that needs to be looked into and addressed.

It seems as though the Director of Middeltown's Parks and Recreation department, Greg Silva, met with members of the River Plaza/Lincroft Chargers Pop Warner team on Wednesday night and basically told the group that the town was moving ahead with the plans for West Front Street and inferred that Pop Warner will get everything they want and encouraged them to support the town's efforts to move them from Trezza Field. He informed them that the plans for the site will be up on the Town's website within the next couple of days, but that the new turf field project will be built at West Front Street Park and that the Chargers should get on board with it or in other words, take it or leave it because there will be no field improvements coming to their existing playing field.

If that wasn't bad enough Silva went on to explain to them that he had a friend who is a contractor (Precise Construction) who could install the field at West Front Street. Allegedly Silva told the group that he has been keeping his friend informed of the bidding specs for the job so that he would have the advantage when both artificial turf fields for Croydon Hall and West Front Street are ready to be bid out.

I found out about all this from two sources, the first being a string of chat room entries left on the NJ.com Middletown Forum by an anonymous poster using the alias of Nofield4you and from another person who shall remain nameless, due to their position within the town and their affilation with Pop Warner and opposition group.

The second source collaborated much of what Nofield4you stated in his chat room entries which I have posted below, and few other pieces of information, some that I printed above and other information that I was asked to hold onto and not blog about just yet:

21681. Mayor pushes us
by Nofield4you, 2/24/10 23:51 ET
Why push us into supporting your plan, when we don’t want to move to west front street? Our plan by far is better for our program, saves taxpayer dollars and is not corrupt… Why have Greg Silvers Friend Precise Construction plan our future… Will they bid the project that Greg has given them the inside scoop? Guarantee the bid is protested and files charged against Greg and the township as soon as its posted and precise submits a bid…

21678. Hey Middletown mike
by Nofield4you, 2/24/10 23:39 ET
Guess what, we have the evidence you need to hang the mayor and other corrupt politicians in Middletown. FYI Greg Silver has a friend who is a contractor and potential bidder of the synthetic field, known as precise construction, guess what Greg has been talking to them all along the way and the bid specs have been made to their advantage… Want more, I got a mouth full of crap to hang several committee members who are ramming this down river plaza parents throats.

21677. Corydon Hall Field
by Nofield4you, 2/24/10 23:38 ET
Wow amazingly the wetland issue at croydon hall is worse then river plaza and the town committee refuses to allow turf at River plaza due to wetlands, unless the contractor is Greg silvers friend Precise construction… Hey Mayor I know the wetland boundaries and Croydon hall does not comply…

21676. River Plaza Field
by Nofield4you, 2/24/10 23:37 ET
Greg Silver has made it clear he has a friend known as Precise Construction who installs turf field and its either West front street or nothing for river plaza… Hey Greg, FYI the fun bunch will win as they did at HS north and you and your friend Precise will be out of the bid and probably in jail with the mayor. Go back to freehold where the grass is brown and natural you fat overpaid piece of crap

Now if what Nofield4you and my second collaborating source stated is true then I think Mr. Silva has a lot of explaining to do and he should do that explaining before others come knocking on his door to ask him about it.

Providing information to a contractor in order to boost their chances at winning a closed bidding process is not just unethical but a crime I believe.

Also the above leaves questions in the mind about the real intentions of the Mayor and Township Committee. It makes it seem that no matter what the opposition is to the West Front Street complex, the Town plans on pushing forward with the turf field complex whether or not residents in the area approve of it and runs contrary to what the Mayor has told them.

Lincroft Resident Speaks Out Against Sports Complex

The Following letter to the editor appears in this weeks Independent:

Here we go again. It appears that our elected officials haven’t learned their lesson from their last attempt to try and impose a sports complex in Lincroft.

This time their choice of fields is on the corner of West Front Street and Everett Road, right on the border of Holmdel.

For the last 30 years, these fields have been used by various soccer clubs with complete enjoyment and acceptance by the residents. Now Middletown Township, in their desperate attempt to use a $2,300,000 taxpayers’ bond and provide a new home for the Pop Warner Chargers, has decided that this location is the best available.

This plan was proposed on Oct. 19 and approved in December without full disclosure to the public as to the intent and extent of the full use of the fields.

What are they thinking? To build two turf fields with 70-foot lights, public-address system, enlarged parking area, snack bar, and surrounded by a chain-link fence, without informing residents of this change, is insulting. Furthermore, to plan this on a busy county road and dangerous intersection without first doing a traffic study is beyond rational or responsible thinking.


Imposing this sports complex in a peaceful residential area, across the street from a church without the residents’ knowledge is deceptive, deceitful and dishonest. This lack of transparency should be illegal, and our township officials should be ashamed of themselves and be held accountable.

Yes, Pop Warner needs an improved field, but to put one in this location will only lead to more serious problems. The tremendous increase in traffic alone is dangerous for the residents, church members and, most importantly, our children. The disregard shown with respect to how this proposed sports complex would affect our quality of life and decrease our property value speaks volumes about our elected officials and their way of doing business. It is completely unacceptable. Period.

Mary Rodgers-Mahoney

SONIC Goup Meets The Mayor

Saturday morning members of SONIC (Save Our Neighborhood's Integrity & Character) met with Mayor Scharfenberger in his office at Town Hall to talk about the turf fields slated to be built at West Front Street Park.

I was not there so I will just report what I was told about it.

SONIC was trying to get some answers regarding the installation of the sports complex facility at the site, which all of the group's members are against and were never directly informed of . They came away from the meeting with a sense that the project is being "re-evaluated" because of their objections.

SONIC made it clear to the Mayor that group has no objection to installing turf fields, but do not want lights, a PA system or stadium style seating. They explained that this would only bring an abundance of cars to the area, for which there is no adequate parking for.

They were also told by the mayor that the construction firm, CMX, is conducting a study of the wetlands at the park, for the EPA and at the moment because of their concerns the project has been placed on hold.

I was told that the group, as well as representatives of the Lincroft Village Green Association (LVGA) will be at tomorrow evenings Township Committee meeting to read the letter that I posted last week.

Tomorrow's meeting is shaping up to be very interesting, for those that are interested in this topic you shouldn't miss it.