About 200 residents packed into Middletown Town Hall Monday night to hear about the township’s plans for its athletic fields. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Podium pounding. Yelling. Fingerpointing. The only things missing from Monday night’s Township Committee meeting were pitchforks and torches.
To say the least, the residents are getting restless.
About 200 of them turned out to hear how the town intended to go forward with contentious plans to upgrade two athletic areas to artificial turf and add more fields to them in order to accommodate more sports. Many came to voice their concerns, some to give the committee a stern talking to and others just to grandstand.
It wasn’t for naught.
Because of a potential sale of the project’s engineer, CMX Engineering, the committee decided not to move forward just yet in finalizing plans to upgrade fields at Croydon Hall and West Front Street Park.
Resident Allen Vrabel shows claims more fields will fit at Trezza Field. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)
The governing body also nixed its plans to add lighting, a public announcement system and concession stand at West Front, which have long been a bone of contention among neighbors.
Still, a certain level of outrage remained concerning West Front.
A number of residents in the Lincroft section of town — at least 400, if you go by signed petitions gathered by resident Mary Mahoney — are against the town’s plan in one way or another. Some believe that although the committee resolved not to add the amenities now, it may try to do so in the future.
A seemingly larger number are still angered because they’d rather see Trezza Field, the longtime home of Pop Warner’s Chargers, get the improvements.
Originally the committee wanted that, too. But plans drawn up by T&M Associates to add baseball fields, multi-use fields and parking to Trezza Field proved to be an unwise choice for the town, primarily because of limited space and surrounding wetlands, said Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger. As a result, the focus shifted to the fields at West Front Street.
Since then, residents have decried the plan, saying it will increase traffic and otherwise alter the area’s quality of life. And at the meeting, Allen Vrabel tried to prove that T&M was wrong, when he took his five minutes of the public comment portion to break out a schematic drawing from an unnamed engineer and pass out copies of it to the crowd showing that the fields will fit at Trezza with sufficient parking and without impinging on wetlands.
The crowd erupted with hoots and applause.
“What you’re proposing is like putting a square peg in a round hole on West Front Street,” Vrabel said. “These can go out to bid tomorrow.”
Vrabel’s comments opened up the gates for the public to skewer the committee, which took it with aplomb — particularly Scharfenberger, who got an earful from Barbara Thorpe.
Thorpe, who scolded Scharfenberger for not paying close enough attention to her, argued that now isn’t the time to spend the estimated $2.5 million on these upgrades.
“Your priorities are all screwed up,” she said to Sharfenberger. “I don’t know what planet you come from or live on, but you are oblivious.”
The $2.5 million to support the field upgrades comes from money set aside in a 2006 bonding package, and is specifically approved for the fields, Committeewoman Pamela Brightbill said.
More pressing at the moment, though, is the fate of CMX. Scharfenberger said he’s not sure of the specifics or how a sale could potentially affect the timeline of the field work, but said the town is looking into it.
“There’s lots of variables. We’re sort of in limbo right now,” he said.
Scharfenberger said the committee is going to also look into the feasibility of Vrabel’s proposal.
“We’re going to look at this very seriously. We wanted to put (more fields) at Trezza, but conditions, as we explained, precluded that,” Scharfenberger said. “We’re going to consider everything that is viable.”
Complete nimbyism, everybody in Middletown agrees that we need better recreation facilities but only if it is somewhere else. Parking at Trezza Field is insufficient and dangerous - there is no possibility that you could fit more facilities there without drastic traffic/parking improvements that are probably not possible.
Perhaps it’s not so much a NIMBY issue as it is a desire for fiscal responsibility. Why spend money on lights & PA elsewhere if all you need is parking & turf at Trezza? If 10% of NJ residents are unemployed, it’s likely that 10% of Middletown residents are too. People are paying attention to how their tax dollars are spent.
I guess you didn’t see the plans which answer all your concerns.
I guess you don’t know the WFS site which is smaller that Trezza, sits on 2 major roads and is surrounded on all sides by over 200 residents. How unreasonable it must seem to anyone who doesn’t actually live there. But the chargers don’t like the site either because its too exposed to the roads where cars fly by doing 50mph, and the church would not allow PA during services. The plans work at Trezza and that’s where they want to stay. Complete with all the amenities for multi sports. Sounds like a win win for all.
MB I think your view is skewed.
Trezza and WFS are about the same size.
Homes bordering fields WFS - 15 (not 200) Trezza - 15+30 condo units.
There are 10 homes that back on the WFS fields and 5 others are across on Everret.
What does being next to major roads have to do with the usablity of the fields? If anything it is a plus since they can handle the increased traffic. There are plenty of fields next to major roads in this town. How about the soccer fields on nutswamp? Should we not use them because they are next to the road?
You pick the field location. Locations are about the same size.
Location 1 - Single entry, one way, minor residental street. Bordering a Retirement community. Limited parking. 15 bordering SFH.
Location 2 - Multiple entries from two major roads including a county road. Bordering 15 SFH. Adequate parking.
I no longer have children that would utilize either of these fields, nor do I live in either neighborhood that would be impacted by such. The WFS neighbors are not being NIMBY. Their reasons for not wanting the sports fields at WFS are reasonable, sound and quite legitimate. The WFS site is defined as not suitable per Middletowns own, and recent, Parks and Rec Master Plan. So, how is it then NIMBY if the twsp’s own plan finds the WFS park unsuitable? It appears to me that they are simply running out of time to utilize a bond (that really should be cancelled, and cut their losses and the taxpayer losses as well). There are other sites such as Lincroft Acres, which appear to be more appropriate for such development. I believe it has 58 acres, but then something would have to be done to remedy ingress and egress to give relief to the homes in that neck of the woods, who have suffered an unfair burden for years. Middletown needs to follow their own master plan recommendations, which also must consider impact to already overburdened and/or roads with poor site lines before choosing a site where ingress and egress will be heavy.
The writers (addressing this)apparently know little in regard traffic planning. Anything built along a county rd needs approval from the county first. The county engineers determine whether a facility will negatively impact the roadway or not - not you or me.
At a recent Freeholder meeting, one of the Freeholder’s made a comment re the possible WFS sports facility. I believe the quote was, “What is Gerry thinking?”. Is that also NIMBY?
It is funny that all the excuses against the WFS development were cheered by the anti development side like it was a sporting event yet when I asked the individuals directly about the objections they all resorted to changing the character of the neighborhood.
While all of these reasons have merit they all are smokescreens to hide behind. At the February meeting the biggest cheer of the nights went to the man who spoke about loving living in that part of Lincroft for years and that this recreational facility would ruin it.
I congratulate the local residents on a well planned assault objecting to the improvements and would also suggest that the Middletown sports organisations need to form an umbrella body where they can form a coordinated lobby that could mount equally robust arguments when needed.
Installing the turf fields without lights is a compromise that wastes taxpayers money by creating a facility is crippled.
I hope that the project is moved to Trezza Field and our neighborhood and town has a facility that the citizens can use to the fullest. I for one would be delighted to have the facility closer to my home that WFS and just hope that these objections don’t prevent the improvement of our town.
replying to ddppmm: So you’re saying that just because there are only 15 homes actually bording the the fields, that the other residents wouldn’t be affected?
That is your mistake. That whole neighborhood felt it was wrong as well as many areas in Lincroft who experience the traffic issues on a day to day basis.
SONIC also got support from many who don’t even live there who felt it was a terrible location.
If you are talking about the condos at SLV, then your exposing a RUMOR that they are behind trying to kick the Chargers out of their home which was there before SLV was built.
You don’t move one problem from one area and cause another problem in a new area.
The Chargers and SONIC came up with a solution that “solved all the Mayors’ problems”. He got what he asked for.
Letter to the Editor
Why Middletown Has it Backwards
The Monmouth Rugby Club has been operating within the county since 1975. The club is a registered 501(c)(3), and its 150+ membership is comprised of taxpaying men and women of all ages from all over Monmouth and Middlesex Counties. The Club has made thousands of dollars in charitable donations to Monmouth County organizations such as Lunch Break and Toys 4 Tots, and funds a scholarship of over $20,000.
Since the 80’s, the Club has held its practices at the Middletown Village School on Kings Highway. The history is somewhat fuzzy, but it appears that, at some point in that time period there was a handshake agreement whereby the Club would be granted access to the small field behind the school in exchange for our installing of a lighting system. The Club obliged, and for over 25 years, has maintained and paid the bill for the electric and all necessary repairs to the system. The Club also maintained a somewhat under-the-radar existence at the school, conducting its practice sessions without any commotion, cleaning up after itself and all the while keeping a friendly relationship with the school. The Club is, in fact, aware of no complaints against it over the course of the past ten (10 years). The only contribution to the practice facility on the part of the Township was its cutting of the grass, which it did in conjunction with its mowing of the adjacent baseball diamonds behind the school.
However, in the Fall of 2009, the Township, apparently caught up in its own facilities nightmare trying to muscle through its West Front Street project, decided to audit its current facilities holding, and stripped the Club of its more than 25 year use of its practice facility, citing an administrative regulation requiring that the club be represented by some unreasonable proportion of Middletown residents. The fall is the regular season for rugby, and both mens’ and womens’ teams were, at that point, undefeated and competing for berths in the Regional and National tournaments. The Township could not have been more swift and efficient in wrapping the Club’s efforts to continue practicing in red tape. It locked the clubs’ lighting box and forbade it from holding its sessions pending some amorphous and arbitrary review process. Thanks to The Clubs’ relationship with two other local, generous organizations which shall remain nameless, the teams found temporary homes. In spite of the complete disrespect suffered by the Club at the Township’s hands, both squads competed at the highest level they had in years, playing in Regional Semifinals and coming within one victory of National Tournament bids.
However, as the Club prepares for its spring seasons, it is homeless, and once again scrambling for practice space. The Township has annexed the Club’s practice fields (which it did not know existed up until 6 months ago) and is no doubt utilizing Monmouth Rugby’s lights. Amazingly, however, the Club has yet to be permitted access back onto its own practice field while the Township continues to dump money into a failing project on West Front Street. The Club, in an effort to improve relations within the Township to regain access to its field, went so far as to send 25 members to the hotly contest council meeting regarding West Front Street, and multiple Club members spoke before the council and residents.
Despite the Club’s longstanding history at the school and its impeccable record of good relations, however, Monmouth Rugby remains ignored.
Ranting Rugger
Ranting Rugger, This is disgraceful! This is the first time I’ve heard of your plight and would advise getting more info out to the public.
You’re right Middletown does it backwards and penalizes the clubs who try to function without being a burden to the tax payer. In your case it seems you’ve done more than that.
It appears to the public that the township and their administrator want things done their way or it’s the highway. This unfairness has got to stop. Keep on fighting the fight.
MB
It would be great if Red Bank could offer the club a place to practice. Like so many rugby teams, they collectively have done many good things for the community. And so many of the members are independently active in list of other charities. Already Red Bank serves as the club’s social center as they have a clubhouse on the Westside. And you can often find the players gathered at various Red Bank establishments such as the Dublin House. With budget short comings, any fee they would pay for field usage would be helpful to the borough. Mike DuPont talks about looking for creative ideas for revenue creation - let me toss him a lay-up.
Ranting rugger,
I think you would get more sympathy if you didn’t refer to township property as Monmouth Rugby’s “own practice field.”
That’s the trouble with handshake deals and under-the-radar arrangements. When the people who should have been aware of the arrangement become aware, they want to go through the process that should have been gone through originally.
Good luck in finding a practice facility.
Mike,
Look around town and see if you can find an underutilized field. It does sound like Monmouth Rugby has been very good to RB, but fields are already tight.
Dan,
I am sure it’s not as easy as I made it sound. But the rugby teams practice in the evening after much of the kids stuff is over and the demand for fields is much less. And while I don’t know Monmouth Rugby’s schedule, most clubs practice only twice a week. Typically I see pick-up soccer games being played at these times. Excuse me if the participants in those games are renting the fields.
Mike, I was going to post, but Dan took the words out of my mouth. The only thing to add is - if we want to generate more revenue, we’ll need to upgrade to a turf field at the basie. Constant use, poor drainage, and re-sodding hasn’t worked out so well. Not sure of the ROI on that one, though.
pension man,
Are we the last place around that does not have a turf field? What was debated for years now seems to be accepted in that these fields are financially prudent. And the modern artificial surface has beat the old safety concerns and the issue of turf burn.
As far as overuse of the current fields, would it not be better to have somebody paying to overuse them instead of free pick-up soccer games?
As far as overuse of the current fields, would it not be better to have somebody paying to overuse them instead of free pick-up soccer games?
Mike - you bring up a great point. To use the fields for regularly occurring games, you need a permit (https://data.c3alert.us/file/download/abd6abbd-3edc-4ac6-8691-dbb37a07bb31.file). This is to allow the parks & rec dept. to assess field usage vs. maintenance, and keep the fields in reasonable shape. If you’ve been to many of our fields, I’m sure you’ll agree that there are some real ankle-twisting potholes out there.
If parks & rec wants to be regarded as decent stewards of their resources, we need better policing of the fields. I see the same guys, in the same spots, all the time. If I was parks & rec, I wouldn’t allow it.
Mike,
I can remember a rugby team having to change their practice schedule after the Rec teams starting having evening practice. In the fall, there is already competition between Pop Warner and Rec soccer for evening practice time.
Pick up games are definitely a problem in the overuse of fields, but that’s a hard problem to police.
MB
Yes I am saying that the other people are over reacting and have little case. I live close (but not on top of the trezza field). I see the glow of lights over tree tops. I hear the PA from Middletown SOuth better than I do from trezza. Are the lights or sounds blaring no. Parking is a different issue. There is NO parking at trezza. SO the neighborhood fills up. At least WFS will have dedicated parking.
You complain that it will affect you. YES it will. You will see some glow and hear some announcements. But guess what most of the town has to deal with some sort of issues. THOUSANDS of people live near fields with and without lights and PA. THOUSANDS live with flooding. THOUSANDS live with traffic from busy road.
Lincroft is nothing special. If you are against the field then dont go Middletown south Football games. Dont have your kids play rec soccer. Certainly dont allow them to play tackle football. You also shouldnt drive down rt35 shop at sears, eat a applebees…. Everyone of these things that Lincroft residents USE are next to residents.
So is it affecting (mildly) many more than 15 residents…YES but suck it up it is YOUR TURN.
MB
One other thing. Towns approve development within their borders regardless of county roads or not. Towns create zones, counties do not. The developer may have to submit a traffic plan but the TOWN is the ultimate decider of zoning and approvals.
ddppmm, You’re assuming this is in my backyard, but it’s not. The many residents moved to this neighborhood and paid high prices because it is quiet.
In Lincroft, all roads lead to Brookdale College, which is why we have been dealing with serious traffic issues for a long time. Brookdale has almost 16,000 students who commute on a daily basis.
That’s one of the reasons the Lincroft residents worked with the county to install a roundabout, because the county was going to widen Rt. 520 to 4 lanes. In addition we have CBA, High Tech, 2 grammar, 1 elementry, 4 churches, Lincroft little league, numerous preschools, senior housing and the possibility of 350 COAH uits right down the road from the soccer fields. Our little area of town is less than 6 square miles. We can not absorb any more traffic especially at that intersection. It is already dangerous.
We are not over reacting; we are trying to protect our neighborhoods and homes as anyone as the right to do.
We suck it up on a daily basis.
Trezza will have 210 parking spaces according to the new plans, so congratulations, no more street parking thanks to SONIC and Pop Warner.