Township Officials Agree to Let Little League Group Move Forward with Field House Plans

The majority of Washington Township councilmen approved a motion Monday to allow Washington Township Baseball Inc. to start a marketing campaign to get donations for a field house at Sherry Field in the township, which is estimated to cost $100,000.

Three members of the little league organization, who are also engineers, brought their proposal before the governing body and asked that they get support for the field house, which would offer bathrooms and an area for food.

Mike Desena, an associate at engineering firm Stantec, outlined the plans for the proposed field house with the township's Director of Engineering David Frank and Paul Imbarrato of Let It Grow Inc.

The three said they wanted council support for the project so they could start a marketing campaign in the community to raise money for the field house. Imbarrato pointed out that when the field house at Clark Field in the township was built, the majority of the money came from donations.

Director of Finance, CFO and Treasurer Jacqueline Do explained that with Clark Field, the money in the ordinance wasn't needed for the field house since donations were sufficient. Instead, the council decided, with the approval of the bonding attorney, to replace the playground equipment at the field with the money set aside in the ordinance.

Council members were generally positive about the Sherry Field project, but wanted to know if other sports groups would be able to use the field and field house.

Council Vice President Steve Cascio, who abstained from the vote, said he understood why the group wanted a field house, but had some reservations about the plan.

"Do we have a need for it? No doubt about it," Cascio said. "But my main concern is possibly the way or position you have the house there now, it might not be optimal for other activities and sports."

Cascio said he wanted to keep the option open of expanding the playing fields. But Councilman Richard Hrbek pointed out that because there are wetlands under the field and parking lot, an expansion wouldn't be possible. He added that the parking lots are necessary because there is no street parking permitted on Lafayette Avenue, which is adjacent to the field.

The Washington Township Baseball representatives wanted an answer so they could feel comfortable seeking donations from residents.

"We want to go out for fundraising efforts. We want to explain to the public this is the location," Desena said. "We don’t want to get a great response and have to move it somewhere else."

Councilman Joseph D'Urso, who made the motion to allow the group to move forward with a marketing campaign, said he wanted to investigate how other recreational groups could use the fields "maybe once or twice a week."

Frank said it would be difficult this year because Washington Township Baseball won't have access to fields because of its and he wasn't sure if the group would have permission from the township's to use fields there as it has in the past.

"I totally hear you with this year, the whole project going on at the high school, but going forward I think there's got to be some kind of agreement where we can use it," D'Urso said.

Frank said, "We're here to do whatever we need to do."

The motion passed with three votes. Cascio abstained and Councilman Glenn Beckmeyer was absent Monday.