Council Discusses Improvements to Memorial Park

Memorial Park was the main topic of discussion during Monday night’s Borough Council meeting as council members heard a proposal for making improvements to the fields, pool and parking areas.

Borough Engineer Vincent DeNave presented a concept plan for the park. Under the new plan, the baseball fields will be separated and a multi-purpose field put in between them.

“As it is, these fields are very underutilized because they conflict with each other and they’re just not very good,” DeNave said. “The multi-purpose field could be used for any field sports.”

He added that there would be limited tree removal and some grading.

“We need to make sure we have a clear area for the outfield,” DeNave said. “We looked at a lot of different layouts in order to fit the multi-purpose field in and minimize tree loss.” He added that the project  would include extensive landscaping around the perimeter of the park.

DeNave said if the project is started this fall, the fields should be open by next fall.

The issue of parking has come up during the planning process, DeNave said.

“Currently there seems to be a parking issue at the library and pool area, depending on the time of day and the time of year,” he said. “Due to the fact that there is limited use of those fields, I think once the improvements are done, we’re going to have an issue with parking.”

Although the nearby church parking lot is usable when the church isn’t using it, DeNave said when the church is using it, it’s hard to find a place to park. He presented the council with two proposals to address the parking situation.

The first is to add 13 additional spaces along North Passaic Avenue.

“It’s a way to pull the cars off North Passaic into a safe parallel roadway,” DeNave said. “This would create a single lane for a drop off area. The sidewalk area is essential there to making this work safely. It would be a drop off area, and there would be parking for longer periods of time.”

The second option is expand the church parking lot by extending the first row, closest to the basketball court, by five spaces, and adding four spaces to the middle aisle, leaving about a 60-foot buffer between the lot and the neighboring homes.

“It’s a cost effective plan and would create a little bit more parking in an area that isn’t utilized because it abuts the basketball court,” DeNave said.

He added that neither option would be very expensive, although the North Passaic option would be slightly more because of the relocation of some draining.

After a brief discussion, Council President James Lonergan suggested DeNave go ahead with the additional 13 spaces.

“If that addresses the demand, then we’re fine,” Lonergan said. “If it doesn’t, we can move forward with the rest.” The rest of the council agreed.

DeNave also reviewed proposed improvements to the pool. The main pool needs considerable rehabilitation, although it is mostly to the exterior. DeNave said the pool is structurally sound.

“We are just going to be taking care of cracks, leaks in some of the piping, some pumps, some filters need to be addressed,” he said.

The biggest improvement, he said, will be replacing all the decking. The current deck is very uneven, and since part of it will have to be torn up anyway to work on the pipes, it’s the best time to fix and expand the deck area, as well as the kiddie pool, which will be larger, have no step down, and will have some new water features.

DeNave said the area will have black fencing around it with a tighter weave for privacy, and landscaping on the library side to create a buffer without completely blocking the view. He also said the area that now has bleachers for the ball fields will no longer be needed for that, and so will be turned into a picnic area.

Plans for the improvements will be available for public viewing  in the Borough Municipal Building.

The pool’s main building is also in need of some cosmetic work and upgrades, and that Monk’s Painting has offered to do the painting for free.

In other business, council members:

• Discussed the Memorial Park War Memorial with representatives of Post 43 of the American Legion, including John Howlett and Herb Ramo, who said that the plaques from World War I and World War II need to be cleaned, and that plaques should be added for Korean and the Gulf Wars.

“We don’t normally put one up for wars that are still in action, but in this case we have discussed putting one up for Iraq,” Howlett said. He added that there is the possibility of putting both Gulf Wars on one plaque, as two separate plaques would be considerably more expensive. A plaque for the war in Afghanistan would also have to be added later.

There was general consensus on the council to proceed with the cleaning of the two existing plaques and the installation of two additional, but a formal resolution will be passed at the next meeting.

• Discussed this summer’s pool fees with Recreation Director Carol Nauta, who said there will be no increase this year.
  
  
• Approved a proclamation declaring April 29 as Arbor Day in the borough.
  
  
• Approved an ordinance, introduced at the previous meeting, to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a cap bank of 3.5 percent.
  
  
• Approved an ordinance, introduced at the previous meeting, amending and supplementing the sewer chapters of the borough code to provide greater flexibility to the operations, including termination of service for nonpayment and computation of charges.
  
  
• During committee reports, heard from Council Member Bruce Harris that the Planning Board is asking any borough residents who are interested in a dog park to let the mayor know.
  
  
• Discussed with Mayor Nelson Vaughan the borough parking situation. Vaughan said the parking committee has concluded that before it can make any recommendations on changes to the parking, it has asked DeNave to create a profile for each parking lot and include a resource analysis of street parking that exists, from roughly Hillside Avenue to Lafayette Avenue. The committee has also asked the borough’s traffic safety officer to make suggestions about the signage of each lot.
  
  
• Conducted the first reading of an ordinance that would limit all retail establishments in the B-3 district to no more than 2,500 square feet and require that they only be on the ground floor. Council Member Harris said the way the ordinance now reads, businesses that are very large could come into the district and create traffic problems.
  
  
• Commended Police Chief Philip J. Crosson, who is receiving his master’s degree this spring.