Brookside Park job incomplete

Just two weeks from deadline, borough wants clarification from FEMA Sussex Borough — A May 15 deadline is looming to complete field restoration work here. Borough officials are reluctant to proceed with alteration work for fear of having to repay a $25,000 grant approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after a nor’easter in the spring of 2007 caused flooding and damage at the recreational fields at Brookside Park. They want to do more work than the grant permits. Initially FEMA offered the grant with strong stipulations about how the money could be spent. It was earmarked for restoration of the fields to their previous condition. Alterations or modifications were not permitted. But as the Dec. 31, 2009 deadline approached, the borough requested an extension. It was granted by FEMA, with the new deadline of May 15. Since December borough officials have requested that FEMA permit them to make additional modifications to the field while restoring damage caused by the flooding. The proposed alterations include converting the fields to proper regulation sizes and for safety reasons, ensuring that they do not encroach on one another. “We have received a verbal OK from FEMA, but we need it in writing,” said Sussex Borough Clerk Catherine Gleason. The borough is prepared to move forward with the restoration work but is “concerned about spending the money for alterations without written approval from FEMA,” said Gleason.