BOE airs concerns on sharing fields
Board asks to see draft of agreement
BY TOM SHORTELL Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — Negotiations for shared use of turf fields at two township schools are inching forward as the Board of Education has asked for specifics to the proposal.

In a letter dated June 18, Christopher Parton, board attorney, asked Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante for a working draft of a proposed shared service agreement.

The document would spell out who has first rights to the fields at Thompson and Thorne middle schools and when other groups can use them.

"It is important that all of the areas of concern and clarification are addressed specifically, so that the parties are assured of a mutually beneficial arrangement," Parton wrote in the letter, which was made available at the board's June 24 meeting.

"I believe that this course of action will enable us to move forward in a [sic] clearest, fastest, and most direct manner, which will benefit the township, the board, and the taxpayers."

The biggest concern, Parton said in an interview on Thursday, is that the agreement won't encroach on students' access to the fields. The board, he said, is not interested in a deal that would give other groups first claim to a field on school grounds.

"The board wants to ensure students have first right at all times," he said.

The township wants to upgrade existing fields at the two middle schools and the football field at Croydon Hall to synthetic turf. The plan,which the township budgeted at $2.5million, follows suggestions in the Recreational Master Plan Middletown created last year.

Mercantante had said the changes would allow the township to offer more sports like lacrosse.

By upgrading the existing fields instead of creating new ones, the township hopes it can save money. No brush or trees would need to be removed from the sites and parking lots are already available, Mercantante said.

After a joint meeting May 27 to discuss the idea, Mayor Pamela Brightbill said the board didn't appear interested in embracing the project.

"I felt like not one member of the Board of Ed used it as a chance to say, 'We want to work with you,'" Brightbill said at the June 1 council meeting.

At the June 25 Board of Education meeting, though, board member Kevin Ryan defended the board's actions.

"We decided we wanted to have a lot of questions answered," Ryan said. "Doing our due diligence does not make us obstructionists."

He said he did not want to comment further until the board and the council have further discussions.

In a letter addressed to the council June 5, the board outlined 11 areas it had questions about, including the right of usage issue. Other areas included insurance, construction costs, lighting and maintenance.

Mercantante responded, suggesting another joint meeting be set up to go over the issues in detail. "I have reviewed the items on your list and have every reason to believe that each of the relevant items can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties," he wrote.

A date for the second meeting has not been set, Mercantante said June 27.