DOE Response Poses Long Road for Turf Project

Making the Fields of Dreams a reality will require much more work and many more steps than some town officials may have bargained for, according to a long-awaited letter from the state Department of Education to the .

At its meeting last Thursday, school board , however he declined to reveal its contents, suggesting that anyone interested in knowing could file Open Public Records Act requests.

The document was obtained Wednesday afternoon through an OPRA request filed last Friday morning.

The letter was dated April 18 and signed by the state Office of School Facilities Director Bernard E. Piaia Jr. The missive does not approve or disapprove of the proposed plan to have the BOE cede 51 percent of its control of the and high schools' football fields so that the town may  in athletic renovations.

Instead, Piaia made a number of suggestions to the school board:

• The district prepare and submit a school facilities project application for the disposal of land and for the project itself
• The district contact the relevant state agency regarding issues relevant to the expenditures of monies in the Open Space Trust Fund
• The district contact its legal counsel concerning the need to obtain approvals from other state agencies

The letter also pointed to required steps for the BOE.

"Please be aware that, as part of thc project application, the district must amend its Long Range Facilities Plan," Piaia advised. "The district is also required to submit to the department a shared ­use agreement that addresses the rights and responsibilities of the school district and the municipality. Such an agreement must provide exclusive use of the property during school hours."

He wrote that "other topics to be addressed in the shared use agreement include, but need not be limited to: maintenance, insurance, scheduling, cost-sharing, security, utilities, and plans for replacement of the artificial turf at the end of its useful life."

In addition, the state said the turf proposal must be vetted and approved by the Parsippany Planning Board.

Patch's phone calls to Piaia's office went unanswered.

President Calabria did not return Patch's phone message seeking comment.

Mayor James Barberio also did not respond to a request for comment. According to a member of his staff, he was in Florham Park meeting with the Morris County Economic Development Corp.