BOE Hears More Public Views on Fields of Dreams

As its president promised, the took time to listen to more residents' views on the . Among those who took the microphone to speak at Thursday's school board meeting at were some of those directly affected by recreational facilities—students.

Mayor James Barberio and his Recreation Advisory Committee have been meeting for months to come up with a and other improvements at both of the township's high schools. 

While the for many is shifting to how to pay for Fields of Dreams and , on Thursday, many people spoke more to the condition of the schools' athletic facilities.

"All you have to do is look at the video for the Par Hills Powder Puff soccer game on Video on the Go [from Nov. 23]," suggested football dad John Simms, who favors the proposal. "Look at the condition of the field. You can see that there are puddles every five years, and on the sidelines, there is mud from one end to the other."

Simms' son Tyler, a junior quarterback at Parsippany Hills High School, stood and spoke in favor of the plan, as did his teammate, sophomore receiver Tommy Bluj. Both cited the difficulty of playing on grass fields in poor condition.

PHHS girls soccer players Jessica Wohlrob and Carolyn Warner, both juniors, told Patch that they spoke out to remind people that the issue involves more than football players.

"We can't be our best if we can't get the practice time we need," said Wohlrob. 

Her friend concurred.

"This is going to be good for the whole town," said Warner. "It's important to do what's right to help student athletes be their best."

Football dad Mike Pietrowicz alluded to the fact that he has been out front and outspoken to promote Fields of Dreams.

"It's no secret that I'm a supporter," he said before taking on what he called "misinformation, misperceptions and assumptions" about the project.

He said the committee is more than "football parents."

"The Friends of Fields of Dreams committee includes booster parents, people from the youth band and other sports," he said. "We had more than 1,000 signed petitions delivered to the mayor last week and they keep coming in. Our supporters are a community-wide, enthusiastic group of people."

Former BOE member Robert Crawford focused on the gravity of the BOE giving the municipality 51 percent control of the ball fields, a legal condition that must be met before Open Space Trust Funds could be used for the project.

"Think very carefully" before moving forward with the project, he cautioned.

Crawford said a host of matters must be considered first, among them, getting independent--i.e. not provided by FOD proponents--analyses of projected usage of the fields, safety and costs versus savings; how residents would be protected in the event the project comes to an abrupt end; and how those who live near the fields would be affected.

School board President Frank Calabria said that the body is waiting to receive a projected usage analysis for the fields.

Crawford added that the board must be open to seeking alternate options for funding any improvements to the recreational facilities.

"Accepting the first idea is not good boardmanship," he said.

Resident Bob Venezia stood to say that he had done his own cost analysis, using figures he found at the website fieldturf.com.

"The numbers don't seem to add up," he said.

By Venezia's accounting, the cost of two artificial-turf fields ($1.4 million), two sets of modern lights ($600,000) and two track oval upgrades ($400,000) would equal $2.4 million.

"That's a $2 million discrepancy," he said.

Throughout the process, proponents have said that the $4.5 million figure being used is a conservative estimate. Township Attorney John Inglesino has said that it is very possible that the eventual cost could be considerably less.

President Calabria told Patch he anticipates much more dialogue will be needed before the board takes any step toward giving over control of its athletic fields to the municipality.

"We won't make any decision before we have all the facts," he said. "This is too important to rush."