Done Deal: Kiwanis Oval Agreement

Government officials from Caldwell and West Caldwell sat down with representatives from last Friday to sign an agreement in which the college would pay $200,000 over the next 10 years to help maintain the turf field at the Kiwanis Oval in Caldwell.

In exchange, Caldwell College’s NCAA Division II men’s baseball team will practice and play on the field. With no baseball diamond on campus, the team previously played several towns away at Smith Field in Parsippany.

“Caldwell College is delighted to finalize this agreement with Caldwell and West Caldwell. We see this as yet another opportunity for community engagement,” Caldwell College President Nancy Blattner said in a statement provided to Patch. “It is a beautiful field and it is very convenient to have it so close to the college. I know the college community, myself included, appreciates being able to walk down the hill to take in the games and support our student athletes.”  

The Cougars played their first season on the new field this spring, finishing with a record of 16-25; the team was 10 and 6 at home.

Mark A. Corino, Executive Director of Athletics and Head Men's Basketball Coach at Caldwell College, said the relationship with the two towns fits in with the goals of the NCAA. “This is one example of how Caldwell’s athletic program supports the NCAA’s community engagement initiative, which calls on NCAA Division II athletic programs to build strong civic relationships in the communities where they are located," Corino said.

The freshly inked agreement comes nearly . According to the terms, the contract takes effect on Jan. 1, 2012. The college will contribute 20 equal payments of $10,000 every six months for the next 10 years for a total of $200,000.

Caldwell Councilman Richard Hauser, Chair of the Recreation Committee, said the money would be put in a maintenance trust fund to be used to maintain and repair the field as needed. The synthetic turf is expected to last eight to 10 years.

At a Caldwell Council meeting earlier this month, Hauser said reaching the agreement was complicated by the fact that three parties were involved. “It probably took a while because it was a matter of Caldwell, West Caldwell and the college coming together,” he said.

The towns and the college have also agreed on a solution to alleviate the issue of belonging to buildings on Roseland Avenue.

In time for the baseball and softball season in the spring, 25-foot high netting will be installed over home base. The netting will extend toward right field to help stop foul balls, which have posed a potential hazard to neighbors for years.

With college-level baseball being played at the Oval for the first time last spring, the number of balls landing in the adjacent parking lots, sometimes striking cars, increased significantly, according to residents. Due to NCAA-guidelines, the Cougars cannot play with a clam shell over home base, which is why the field was designed without one.

Hauser said the college has agreed to pay for one third, or $11,700, of the cost of the netting. The other two-thirds will be split between Caldwell and West Caldwell.

Caldwell and West Caldwell, along with open space funding from Essex County, shared the cost of the $1.9 million state-of-the-art field, which opened in October 2010.

“We are very, very excited about all the opportunities that are ahead of us,” West Caldwell Councilman and Recreation Committee Chair Dominick Aiello said Tuesday at the township's council meeting.

Aiello recommended attending a Cougars’ game.

“It’s really great to have a Division II baseball team right here in the community using the field,” he said.