Moorestown Council Moves Forward With Hockey Rink Work, Drug-Free Zone Expansion

Moorestown Council gave final approval to an ordinance to set aside $100,000 and borrow $95,000 for preliminary engineering and design expenses related to the relocation of some dasher boards from the Wesley Bishop Park hockey rink to the rink at Jeffrey Young Memorial Park Monday night.

Township Manager Scott Carew previously said the project would most likely begin after the winter.

The ordinance was approved with a 5-0 vote during Monday night’s meeting at town hall.

The total estimated cost of the project at this point is about $400,000, with a more concrete figure to come later in the year. Moorestown has a $250,000 grant from the county and the Moorestown Youth Street Hockey Association (MYSHA) has agreed in writing to commit $80,000 to the project, in the form of $8,000 over 10 years. This would leave $70,000 for the township to raise as of Monday night.

In June, Scott Taylor, vice president of Taylor Design Group, proposed recycling a portion of the hockey rink at Wesley Bishop Park for use at the Jeff Young Memorial Park, which was demolished last year.

Last year, Taylor proposed installing the dasher boards at Jeff Young Memorial Park, and in June, he proposed relocating the boards at Wesley Bishop to Jeff Young.

It would involve moving a larger frame to a smaller park.

The rink at Jeff Young Park is 60 feet by 120 feet.

The rink at Wesley Bishop Park is 75 by 175.

Taylor said they wouldn’t use all the panels, and based on his measurements, there would be no problem making them fit.

Moorestown Council also unanimously approved an ordinance on first reading to expand drug free zones in the township. Drug-free zones previously applied only to schools. The revision would add public housing facilities, public parks and public buildings to the existing ordinance.

The public hearing and final vote is scheduled for Oct. 5.