Council promises fields by September

VERNON-The Vernon Town Council voted 3-0 to award a contract of professional services to Harold E. Pellow and Associates, Inc. for preparing design plans and specifications to construct Maple Grange Park. Roughly translated, this means that soon there will be bids accepted by the town for general contracting of the site. And, even further, township teams will be playing on the fields at Maple Grange in September of 2005. With Mayor Ira Weiner and Councilman Jeff Patterson recusing themselves from the vote, Council Members Neil Desmond and Phil Weiler accompanied Deputy Mayor Janet Morrison in passing the resolution. The vote came after nearly two hours of animated discussion regarding the extent of the project the town should allow the engineer to prepare design plans for. Pellow and Associates, Inc. drew up two proposals in conjunction with Town Manager Don Teolis and Town Engineer Lou Knight. The first plan called for a total engineering expenditure of $183,000 and stipulated that the entire project be engineered. In this plan, referred to as Phase IA, the plans would be drawn up for completion of two main fields, both consisting of a synthetic, highly durable playing surface, lighting for the fields, the construction of a road into the area of the fields, parking, lighting for the roadway, and any other infrastructure associated with the two fields (i.e. drainage, water and septic). In addition, Pellow and Associates would layout the plans for the entire park, taking into consideration the future problems associated with fields and facilities that may not be built for some time. Teolis and Knight as a lower cost option for the council to consider issued an alternative plan. Under this lower cost plan, $78,000 would be spent in engineering costs up front. However, the entire site would not be engineered and laid out. The two synthetic surface fields would be constructed, as well as the other necessary infrastructure from Phase IA, but only the portion where the two fields would be constructed would be engineered. The rest of the site would be drawn in a preliminary fashion, but not completely studied. When asked why there were two proposals submitted to the council, Teolis answered that he was under the assumption that the immediate goal of the township was the completion of the two fields. "If that is the intention of the township, then this is my recommendation," he said speaking of the lower cost proposal. During the deliberations, Mayor Weiner was adamant about the problems associated with not engineering the entire site in the beginning of the process. "Whoever gets the bid needs to account for future construction problems that could come with the construction of future fields," he stated emphatically to the council. "We don't want to have someone engineer part of the park and then have someone else come in and finish the job a few years later," said Patterson. Also at issue was the ability of the township to deliver the two usable synthetic-surface fields by September 2005. "I would move heaven and earth to get those two fields for those kids in the fall," said an animated Neil Desmond to the council. "We have identified a need and we should deal with that need now." By accepting the proposal to allow Pellow and Associates to complete the entire design and layout of the project, it allows the township to just hand out the proposal to bid whenever the funds become available, said Knight. As it currently stands, the council has available for Maple Grange Park nearly $1.6 million dollars. Several members of the council acknowledged that completing the two turf fields by next September is an imperative. "Those two fields are a benchmark," said Desmond. "We need to get out to bid the very minimum we need for that park to stand alone," said Patterson referring to the two fields as what could make the park immediately viable. Patterson followed with an assertion that as future funds become available, more aspects of the park would be completed, such as the great lawn, the community center, and other aspects that the council sees as completing the park. Desmond, who worked for the past three years with the recreation commission, explained the decision to go with a synthetic material over a natural surface for the two initial fields at Maple Grange. "It really is a safety issue. We have seen studies that show it is a safer surface to play on then natural grass. Also, we will save money over the long haul in terms of maintenance, staff, equipment and materials," he said. In regards to the delivery date for the fields he was adamant in his resolve to finish the two turf fields by September: "There will be fields in the fall."