Agreement Finalized For Chatham's Joint Recreation Program

CHATHAM, NJ — Last summer, the Chatham Township and Chatham Borough local governments decided to renegotiate certain aspects of the town's Joint Recreation Program, prompting residents to consider its possible disbandment.

In June, Steve Williams, the borough administrator, gave an update on the negotiations, stating that they were almost complete and finalized.

According to the agenda for the borough council meeting on Monday, Aug. 14, all Is and Ts have been crossed, as the borough will vote on passing the resolution calling for the execution of the new agreement.

"We are extremely close to having a final joint recreation agreement, which will be happy news for a lot of people," Williams said.

Negotiations may have begun as a result of the Chatham Township Committee's decision to hire Larry McCann as a new and separate Recreation Director outside of the prior shared services agreement.

The initial agreement had been in place since 2016.

When the negotiations became public, members of the public expressed concern about the potential dissolution of the joint agreement and what that would mean for their children.

"My son has the opportunity to be on a team with other Chatham kids from both the township and the borough. For some children with disabilities, these are the only opportunities they have to be part of a team and for mentors, this is the beautiful experience of what inclusion should look and feel like," one township parent said.

In response to the community's claims, the committee stated that the previously approved resolution had made no permanent changes to the Joint Recreation Program and that a decision to terminate the agreement had not been made.

The committee's only official decision at the time was to end the shared services agreement with Chatham Borough, with the goal of returning to the days when each municipality had its own recreation director.

The specifics of the new agreement terms have not yet been released.

The hiring of a township recreation director has not and will not separate sports teams, and Mayor Ashley Felice has stated that once each town has its own recreation director, coaches will be able to schedule field practices and games through a single source.

The Chatham Recreation Joint Advisory Committee oversees the local recreation department and meets six times per year. Sports programs include flag football, tackle football, soccer, cheerleading, field hockey, cross country, golf, ice skating, and others. To see the entire list, go here.

The Borough of Chatham Council meeting is planned to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Monday in the borough hall. The full agenda for the Aug. 14 meeting can be viewed here.