Bernardsville, School District Authorize Answer to Athletic Field Lawsuit

Following a closed-session discussion, the Bernardsville Council has authorized Borough Attorney John Pidgeon to file an answer to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a citizens group with objections to the Somerset Hills Board of Education's plans to build a new grass field by existing baseball and softball fields on the "lower field" at Bernards High School.

The Somerset Hills school district also has authorized its attorney to file an answer to the legal challenge, Schools Superintendent Peter Miller said on Friday.

The group filed a legal challenge at the beginning of April disputing a waiver granted to cut trees on the property and also asking to ensure that state and federal regulations are properly met.

Borough officials did not comment on the lawsuit on Monday night, or at a previous meeting.

"All we are asking is that they step back and take a look at this," said Jeanne DePodwin of Old Colony Road, who with her husband started Active Citizens for Responsible Sustainability, Inc. (ACRES)

She said she would like to see both borough and school officials create an overall strategy for the multiple proposals being discussed for local athletic fields, in a "transparent" way that involves the public.

She said that the group does not oppose an athletic field, but feels any field constructed should be created in a proper way. She declined to say how many people are part of the citizens group.

Residents of Old Colony Road have described wet conditions on the proposed field site, and have expressed concerns that cutting down hundreds of trees would increase flooding on their properties. But Jeanne DePodwin said on Friday that residents from other sections of towns also have asked questions about another proposal by the school district to build a turf field on borough-owned property behind the Bernardsville Middle School.

She described the group as a "pocket woodlands advocacy group seeks responsible and sustainable land use development..one acre at a time." She declined to say how many residents are members at this time.

Dan Somers, the attorney for ACRES, on Friday said the group filed the legal challenge on April 1 in state Superior Court in Somerville. "We are not seeking money damages," Somers said.

Instead, he said the lawsuit challenges a waiver that the Bernardsville Borough Council granted to the Board of Education to cut down trees on the property — which the school board said last week said a count had put at just more than 240. DePodwin said the residents feel that count is an underestimate.

Somers said the group also is challenging the validity of a further amendment to the borough's tree protection ordinance that would allow the school district exemption from seeking some of the required permissions.

The lawsuit also asks that the Board of Education be required to comply with all state and federal regulations regarding the plan, which are primarily environmental regulations, Somers said.

School officials have repeatedly said in public that the plan would not proceed until all regulatory requirements have been met.

The DePodwins also have asked that the orientation of the field be shifted, but school officials have said that is not preferable, partially because then the outfield would be too close to property lines.