Turf Fields Get Mixed Reaction from Residents

Residents from Hanover Township, East Hanover and Florham Park had mixed feelings on a proposal by the Hanover Park Regional Board of Education to send a $19 million referendum to voters for athletic improvements to the high schools.

Laura Wilson said she moved to Whippany from a town in Long Island that years ago was one of the first towns to put in a lighted turf field.

"It became the hub of the community," she said, and though "some of the neighbors objected to the lights, they found afterwards that their concerns were not as great as they thought they would be."

Ken Coffey, a Whippany Park High graduate, disagreed. "As compared to Long Island, we're in a different situation," he said. "Whippany Park is in a different neighborhood," one that does not have trees to buffer the fields from the neighbors.

Michael Wilczak said repeatedly that he would prefer to see a $19 million referendum go toward restoring programs that have been lost due to budget cuts, or improving existing academic programs. "My son is in an AP Physics class with 28 kids, and he shares a lab of 10," he said.

Residents also asked the board to examine other fields in the towns that could be converted to turf and have lights installed. Board President Joan Seery responded that the board only has jurisdiction over school fields, not municipal fields.

The board approved Feitlowitz & Kosten Architects (FKA) as the architects for the improvements. Michael Bieri, A representative from FKA presented several renovation plans for the two schools at the Sept. 27 BOE meeting.

The most costly and major addition would be adding in a multi-sport stadium, which includes replacing the grass to artificial turf, resurfacing the track and adding two more lanes, and replacing the home and visitor bleachers. These plans pertain to both Hanover Park and Whippany Park.

At Wednesday's meeting, board members discussed what items in FKA's proposed scope of work they wish to see expanded, adjusted or, in some cases, removed. Dugouts at the baseball field, for example, were recently given as gifts to the schools; therefore, replacing them was removed from the proposed project.

The board also discussed the parking lot at Whippany Park High. In FKA's proposal, the parking lot would be expanded by 64 spaces. Board Member James Herbert was opposed to that plan. "I'm dead against it," he said, saying he didn't want trees cut down and turned into pavement.

Herbert, along with residents near Whippany Park High, said the parking lot is rarely filled to capacity because there is only one entrance and exit, and traffic becomes too logjammed before and after games. Instead, people tend to park on the street, despite the fact that on-street parking on East Fairchild Place is prohibited.

Other residents of the area, though, said the parked cars block their driveways and pose a danger to those who live in the area, since they cannot see the roadway when exiting their driveways.

The board also wanted to look at options for the practice fields, including turf and grass. According to Seery, it would cost $2.3 million to install turf at practice fields at both schools, along with field preparation. To install just synthetic turf with no field preparation or drainage would cost $1.4 million, or about $700,000 at each school. To simply sod and regrade the practice fields would cost about $400,000.

A public meeting with these and other options outlined by Bieri will take place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17. at the Hanover Park High School theater. The referendum will be finalized after that meeting.