Poll: Should Memorial Field Have Artificial Turf?

Members of the township recreation board as a solution to maintenance problems at the council meeting last week.

According to Scott Spezial, a representative of the recreation board, the field has ruts and goose droppings on its surface and there is netting sticking up from non-athletic grade sod. Spezial also said the field house needs repairs and the basketball court has a slick surface because clay from the softball field drains onto it, among other issues.

Other residents have said they do not to pay the extra money for the artificial turf field. The plan suggested by members of the recreation board includes a walking path and a bocce court, so more residents could use the facility, Spezial said. He estimated that Memorial Field could be switched to artificial turf for about $61,850 more per year than the cost of maintaining the current field. Building an artificial turf field would also take less time than letting sod settle in the field and it could be used year-round, Spezial said.

Township officials have been for Memorial Field and planning which fields recreation programs can use while work is done. Use of school fields will cost township programs $24,000 for the spring, according to district Business Administrator Keith Rosado. Township officials had planned to include another $40,000 in the budget to sod Memorial Field again, but said they would consider adding money for a bigger change to the site. The field has been sodded four times since 2001.