In Jackson, sports groups dream of fields
$7.9M bond measure would provide more room
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/25/07
BY FRAIDY REISS
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
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JACKSON — Township recreation programs have been running in crisis mode, the president of the local Little League said.
With the town growing rapidly and more children moving in constantly, local sports organizations need more fields where the kids can practice and play, Mike Mondello said.
"We were almost to the point (where) we were going to have to start turning kids away," Mondello, 40, said of the Jackson Little League, which boasts 700 children.
So, Mondello said, the leaders of the town's sports organizations strongly support the mayor and council's proposal to borrow $7 million, mostly for recreation fields.
A public hearing on the $7,895,000 million bond ordinance — which calls for the town to put down $789,500 and to borrow $7,105,500 — is scheduled for Tuesday. If the ordinance is adopted, Jackson would spend an estimated $6 million to improve existing fields at the Justice Complex and at Holman Field.
At the complex, the town would convert a grass football field and a soccer field to synthetic-turf fields that could be used for several sports, and would build two Little League fields. The town also would in-stall lighting, scoreboards, bleachers and a concession stand with restrooms.
At Holman Field, off Manhattan Street, the town would convert a grass football field to a synthetic-turf multipurpose field.
Turf fields can be used continually, unlike grass fields that get ruined if they are used too frequently, Mondello said. So converting existing fields to turf and adding Little League fields would give sports groups much more field time than they currently have, he said.
"This isn't a wish list," Mondello said. "This is a necessity that was done."
The fields will be finished by October if the bond ordinance is adopted, Mayor Mark A. Seda said.
Township officials also are working to build soccer and baseball fields on township-owned property on Jackson Mills Road, Seda said. Jackson purchased the 115-acre plot four years ago with an agreement that E. Sambol Corp. would perform about $500,000 worth of work on the property, he said, so the new fields might not cost the town any additional money.
All these plans represent the "most aggressive" recreation improvement program in Jackson's history, Seda said. Still, he said, they are only a "temporary fix" in a rapidly growing town.
"This town's not getting smaller," Seda said, adding he hopes to build additional recreation fields within four years.
When he introduced the bond ordinance March 13, Seda said it would come at no cost to taxpayers. He later clarified that, because of other debts Jackson recently paid off, the $7.9 million bond ordinance would represent an additional $1.2 million in municipal debt — in addition to the $789,500 down payment.
The project is worth the cost, said Mark Bruscella, president of Jackson Pop Warner. The organization's 750 football players and cheerleaders need the additional practice and playing time that turf fields can provide, he said.
"It's for our children," said Bruscella, 43. "I have three children growing up in this town, and I want my kids to be busy all the time." |
