Borough, Township Discuss Logo for Shunpike Field

UPDATE: Township Committee Member Bailey Brower Jr. said that the Township Committee discussed possible alterations to the plan to place the township logo on Shunpike Field during executive session Thursday night.

"We talked about substituting a different type of logo on the field to respond in good faith to what the borough people had to say," Brower said.

Possible options include putting the logo for Chatham Recreation on the field or the words "Shunpike Field" rather than the logo of one particular municipality.

"It's not about one town or the other," Brower said.

Borough Council President James Lonergan spoke at the Chatham Township Committee meeting during the regular meeting Thursday. He said that displaying the township logo on the turf field at did not give appropriate credit to the other parties that paid for the field.

"I heard a couple comments up here [among the committee members] about thinking small, petty. I heard somebody...willing to donate the money to the borough to fund their own logo [on ]. Personally, I think we had the money, I think I can can think of better things to use with it."

The turf field at Shunpike has been funded in equal portions by the borough, the township and the Chatham Athletic Foundation. The Chatham Recreation department also used money from their capital funds to help fund the field.

"This is a joint recreation program," Lonergan said. "This is a partnership and always has been, and I'd like to see that it continues to be treated as such."

The Chatham Borough Council to contribute $112,000 toward installing lights at Shunpike Field. This is in addition to the $350,000 they already contributed to the contruction of the field itself.

Council member Vicki Fife cast the lone vote against approving the funds, saying
"I don't think the township is playing fair," she said, referring to the township's decision to place their logo on Shunpike Field.

"It's not about Chatham Borough, it's about the people in Chatham having pride in playing on a beautiful field at Shunpike," Committee Member Bob Gallop said.

Brower said he felt there had been "a lot of back-biting in the borough" about the issue. "For some reason, Chatham Borough always has some kind of an issue with the township, even though we try our best to cooperate," Brower said.

Lonergan said that the "phenomenal field" that is being constructed at Shunpike was being overshadowed by the debate. "Nobody's looking to make this a borough-township discussion. This is a joint recreation program. We're fighting for it because it's one program, not either-or," Lonergan said.

Committee Member Kevin Tubbs said that where the field was located was not the important factor. "We still need to acknowledge that the field was paid for by three parties," he said.

Township Mayor Nicole Hagner thanked Lonergan for his statement before moving on with the rest of the meeting's agenda.

Shunpike Field, like Lum Field, will have a plaque acknowledging the township, borough and Chatham Athletic Foundation for the monetary contributions that helped to build the field.