NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ – Councilman Vince Vyzas, former PAL President Kerry Lee, Jeff Grob, and Chris Cirrotti presented a draft proposal to the New Providence Borough Council at Monday night’s Council meeting to redevelop recreational facilities in the Borough while retaining Borough ownership over all of them and using New Providence Open Space funds to pay for much of the improvements.

According to Councilman Vyzas, "The goal of this initiative is to maintain all current park and recreation uses, expand or upgrade the uses currently offered, with the goal of preserving Borough ownership and control of redeveloped parkland and recreation facilities." He continued, "We focused on redevelopment options beyond Oakwood Park and creation of a "Recreation Core Area" centered around the Community Pool to satisfy Borough wide needs identified in the Recreation Master Plan." "We will seek to incorporate input from the community at large. We will be conducting design forums to further engage the community in the process of developing concept plans for an alternative proposal to improve and expand Borough-wide recreation offerings," he concluded.

Kerry Lee said, "As a long time Borough resident and parent, I have been a strong advocate for enhancing our recreation facilities and creating additional recreation opportunities for our children. While I am proud of the efforts that I have been part of, I recognize that much more needs to be done to give our kids and all Borough residents the first class facilities that they deserve. It is this motivation that has led to my involvement in this initiative."

He spoke about some guiding principles underlying the proposal made on Monday night:

1. The initiative will be guided by the study, research, findings and recommendations of the Recreation Element of the Master Plan including the Field Condition Analysis.

2. The initiative will incorporate and build upon many aspects of the Borough’s design work on the current Oakwood Park proposal.

3. The initiative will seek to maintain all current park and recreation uses and upgrade and potentially expand the Borough’s current recreation offerings.

4. The initiative will preserve Borough ownership and complete control of developed park and recreation facilities.

5. The initiative will be wide reaching in scope, will be Borough wide, and will evaluate options to benefit all Borough residents.

6. The initiative will be advanced in partnership with OLP Church and Academy and the New Providence Community Pool.

7. We will seek input from all interested members of the community.

Jeff Grob then provided a snapshot of the review done by the group to develop the draft proposal.

"The group did a broad view of current Borough park and recreation facilities/resources We looked at:

• Borough Parks and Rec fields,

• Passaic River Corridor and its connection to public land,

 • Senior Center,

• Board of Education facilities,

• Privately owned fields used by residents."

He continued, "Many of these locations present limited potential for expanded use or redevelopment due to

• size/geometric configuration constraints,

• inefficient configuration,

• non-Borough ownership,

• parking deficiencies,

• neighborhood traffic concerns."

He added that the group did a Borough-wide analysis of all the existing facilities looking to identify the most suitable places to locate recreation facilities and where to best allocate redevelopment investment dollars.

The primary focus of the group’s efforts were the Community Pool/Tennis Courts/High School Field Complex/OLP Field.  He said, "We immediately recognized that several under-utilized areas exist in the vicinity of the pool and tennis courts and focused on a reorganization of this area to better maximize its potential for recreational uses."  The second major focus of the group was Oakwood Park.  He added, "Oakwood Park presents a unique opportunity to connect active recreational areas with large, natural, contiguous open space along the river."

Secondary locations for the group’s focus were Grove Terrace; Lincoln School, Park; and Veterans Park.

Grob continued, "As we looked at these locations we began to realize that the Recreational Core Area presents the greatest opportunity to gather the largest amount of recreational facilities in a more centralized area, near the center of town and not in various neighborhoods’ back yards."

Chris Cirrotti then explained that the concept sketches are meant to be feasibility studies only. He said, "[they] represent a starting point for stimulating dialogue and input on the development of alternative proposal to the current Oakwood Park proposal. They should by no means be viewed as finalized solutions."

The Recreation Core Area Concept Sketch includes:

• One lit synthetic turf soccer/football/lacrosse field with restrooms and playground at the location of the present tennis courts which are in need of resurfacing

• New constructed tennis courts and handball court adjacent to OLP parking area

• Dual access basketball, beach volleyball, and bocce courts at pool complex allowing public access during non-pool hours.

• New miniature golf course at pool complex with a New Providence Historical theme

• Provisions for portable winter ice skating facility in Recreation Core Area

The Oakwood Park Concept Sketch includes:

• One synthetic turf soccer/football/lacrosse field generally at present football field location

• One refurbished baseball field and one relocated softball field

• One mid-sized grass soccer field

• Relocated playground, basketball court, bocce court, horseshoe pits

• Expanded parking with loop roadway linking Roesner Place and Park Place which allows access to all the parking from either direction and will minimize unnecessary traffic circulation in the adjoining neighborhood streets

• Seasonal dock installation along Passaic River frontage for fishing/boating

• Provisions for upgraded storage/snack bar/restroom facilities

Regarding the secondary areas examined by the group, the Grove Terrace Concept Sketch includes: 

• Relocate softball field and expand open field area northward inside limits of existing roadway and parking areas

• Increasing in open area facilitates reorganization of field layout providing one additional mid-sized soccer/lacrosse field.

• Expand parking by use of grass pavers along existing roadway

• Facilitates existing access to JCP&L substation, reduces impervious surface, and keeps development footprint within limits of the existing roadway.

The Lincoln Park Concept Sketch includes:

• Relocate Softball field to northeast corner of open field area

• Reorganize grass field layout to allow full-size grass soccer/lacrosse/football field instead of mid-size field.

He continued, "In summary, as a result of out initial feasibility study, we believe the following additional benefits can be realized by implementing this alternative development plan:

• One new lit synthetic turf field

• New Tennis Courts

• New basketball, volleyball and bocce courts accessible to the public at the pool complex

• New miniature golf course

• Winter ice skating facility with lights

• All within the Recreation Core Area with ample parking and proximity to Downtown

At Oakwood Park:

• One new synthetic turf field

• Expanded parking with interconnecting loop roadway

• Baseball and Softball diamonds kept on natural grass

• One mid-sized grass soccer field

• New playground

• New basketball court

• Seasonal dock installation along the river frontage

• Provisions for upgraded storage/snack bar/restroom facilities

At Grove:

• One additional mid-size grass soccer field for a total of two grass fields

At Lincoln:

• Reorganization of field layout allowing a full size grass soccer field"

Councilman Vyzas said, "With the recent unanimous decision of the Council to put a referendum on the November ballot regarding whether or not to transfer Oakwood Park to the County and implement the current redevelopment plan, we believe the time is right to come together as a community and formulate an alternative proposal." He continued, "We believe that the development of an alternative proposal, expanding on the current Oakwood Park proposal, will result in a solution more responsive to the recreation needs of the entire Borough. We hope this process results in a collaborative endeavor to develop a plan which will have broader support and wider benefit."

He then began to discuss how to fund the projects. He said, "In order for this proposal to become a reality, we would need a minimum of $3,000,000 to fund this initiative as it stands." The group proposes to raise the funds as follows:

"1) Liquidate the Open space fund which has approximately $534,000 (after reimbursement from the Green Acres funds of the $150,000 used to purchase the parcel adjacent to Veteran’s Park)

2) Low interest Green Acres loan of $500,000 at 2% over 20 years

3) Redirect the Open Space Tax to fund a bond of approximately $2,000,000 at 4%.

4) Utilize $150,000 of Borough funds currently earmarked for tennis court renovations.

5) The Open Space Tax of $130,000 in addition to annual commitments of a minimum of $25,000 from the Community Pool and $10,000 from the Soccer Club were tentatively endorsed by their respective Presidents Tim Clewell and Alex Kogan, subject to Board approval. (Note: The Open Space Tax was reduced by the Council last year from 1 cent to ¼ cent. Restoring the Open Space Tax to 1 cent will result in an increase to the average assessed homeowner of $21.)

Many of the contemplated improvements in the Recreation Core Area were proposed by the Community Pool Board. The monies from the Soccer Club equal their annual recurring costs for light generation and portable toilets at Lieder field. This puts us well on our way to funding this initiative. This will leave us with a $22,600 shortfall in annual funding of debt service for this project. Assuming there is no additional funding from other sources, this shortfall would cost the average assessed homeowner $4.92 annually in addition to the $21 to restore the Open Space Tax.

6) In addition the cost of the $500,000 low interest loan would be $30,353 annually or $6.60 to the average assessed homeowner. The base initiative would cost the average assessed homeowner an additional $11.52 annually in addition to the $21 to restore the Open Space Tax.

7) If we were to bond an additional $1,000,000 to complete the entire plan as depicted on the concept sketches, we would have an annual shortfall of $116,350 or an additional $25.30 to the average assessed homeowner. There would be an additional revenue stream created from the miniature golf course which has not yet been quantified.

8) There are replacement costs which need to be considered and addressed. We will seek the assistance of Mr. Clewell who is a professional property manager who today agreed to join this task force in addressing these issues and in assisting us in further developing this proposal.

9) There are additional revenue streams which have not been explored to date from the other sports clubs in the Borough and advertising in the Recreation Core Area which could be sold with priority to local businesses which has yet to be explored."

Vyzas added, "Tonight, we ask for the Council’s support in allowing us to use Borough facilities for conducting public meetings, the Borough website to announce meeting dates, and the utilization of Borough staff to coordinate the meeting schedule as we move forward with this initiative."

"In the coming weeks we welcome any input the Mayor and Council may have as we develop this proposal and invite the participation of all interested members of the community," he concluded.