Committee Approves Sunday Shunpike Construction

The Chatham Township Committee granted approval Thursday night for Fredco Landscaping, the contractor at Shunpike Field, to work the next two Sundays (May 15 and 22) in order to open on time.

Township Engineer John Ruschke said the turf field and walking paths will be complete by May 21 and the field will be functional.

"We're still going to have work ongoing on the natural field," he said. A temporary fence will be erected to close off the construction area before the opening ceremony takes place.

The rest of the field should be "substantially complete" by June 4, Ruschke said.

Ruschke said the utility company JCP&L had some issues that have prevented them from setting up the poles to light the fields.

"They wanted us to built a road into the field in order to send their [equipment]," Ruschke said.

Mayor Nicole Hagner said she had been in contact with JCP&L. "I think we've cleared up the issue of the road, and now it's just getting them to set up the time," Hagner said. She also said that to her understanding, JCP&L was still processing the work order for their team to come to Shunpike to install the lights.

Committee Member Kevin Tubbs said Hagner or Tom Ciccarone, the township administrator, should call JCP&L again.

"If we want to get it done [by] June 4, then the time is now," Tubbs said. "I think it's appropriate to call them tomorrow, and then next week, and the following week, and then whatever it takes," Tubbs said. "Let's get it done. Let's let them know it's important to Chatham."

In order to meet the June 4 deadline, the committee discussed allowing the contractor to work on weekends. "Our [noise] ordinance allows them to work on Saturdays," Hagner said, but to work on Sundays the committee must give Fredco explicit permission, including starting and stopping times.

"There has been at least one Sunday that we authorized them work to get the turf field done," Hagner said, and "there are at least two potential Sundays that I wanted to see if the committee felt that we should authorize them to work on a Sunday in an effort to get the project done."

Hagner said the two Sundays in question, May 15 and May 22, were not holidays and that the work would be limited to irrigation work, which she said would not create a lot of noise. Ruschke confirmed that the irrigation work involved smaller equipment and was removed from the street and from adjacent homes.

The committee discussed limiting the hours of construction from noon to 6 p.m. so as not to disrupt services at Long Hill Chapel. The committee also said they would contact Long Hill Chapel to request permission to use their parking lot for the opening ceremony.

Chris Ravera, who lives on Shunpike Road across from the field, told the committee the contractor had failed to abide by Sunday construction restrictions in the past. She said she was woken up on a Sunday morning recently at 7:22 a.m. by the sound of construction. When she called the police, she said they told her that the work would stop at around 3 p.m.

The contractor was still working after 7 p.m., and when they called the police again, they were told the contractor had permission to work until 5 p.m.

"The contractor was of the opinion that he didn't have to abide by this, that he could continue working. And he did," Ravera said.

Hagner told Ravera that the committee would send a patrolman if necessary to monitor the Sunday construction and make sure that Fredco abides by their guidelines of working only between noon and 6 p.m.