Mayor: If it Meant a Tax Hike, I Wouldn't Turf Fields

A public forum will be held Tuesday on the hotly contested . Mayor James Barberio made the announcement at Thursday's Open Space Committee meeting at Town Hall.

The mayor said the event will feature a number of township officials, including the township attorney, the chief of police and the superintendents of the Parks and Forestry and Recreation departments. They will be on hand to answer the public's questions regarding the controversial proposal to install artificial turf fields and Parsippany's high schools using Open Space Trust Fund dollars.

"They'll answer any questions that the public asks, pro and con," the mayor said. "I did say we need to have a public forum, and I meant that."

Barberio said the forum will take place during the Township Council agenda meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

The Open Space Committee, at its Jan. 12 meeting, voted not to put the Fields of Dreams plan onto its approved list. Had the vote gone the other way, it would have eased the way for the FOD proposal to get the conservation easement—a type of ownership interest in the athletic fields that now belong to the Board of Education—it needs to be able to use open space money legally.

At the last meeting, . He said the governing body had the right to approve the matter regardless of the opinion of the Open Space Committee.

On Thursday, however, the mayor sought to get the committee on his side, providing them with background information into the 1988 Open Space Ordinance and the 2006 Parsippany voter referendum that initially gave the township the ability to use up to 40 percent of open space funds for the improvement of recreational facilities.

"Going forward, the next meeting, I am going to ask for a vote of reconsideration because I believe you'll have a more clear understanding of how the state statute works when it comes to open space and about our own referendum of 2006 and how we can use our open space dollars for acquisition, for historical and for recreation," Barberio said.

"I feel the township can move forward. I do believe this [project] should be put under acquisition in a conservation easement and let the governing body, which is the Town Council, decide on the matter."

A host of sports boosters and student athletes—some holding up photos showing the field and track conditions at the high schools—stood to speak in favor of the Fields of Dreams project.

Students shared stories of feeling "embarrassed" by having other teams see the state of Parsippany's school fields or of injuries sustained on poorly maintained grass fields.

Mike Pietrowicz, vice president of Little Vikings Football and secretary of the Recreation Advisory Committee who brainstormed the Fields of Dreams plan, blasted "naysayers" for speaking against the project. 

"The intent of the 2006 referendum was to invest in our commanity," he said, adding that in his opinion, the Fields of Dreams plan lives up to the intent of the open space statute.

Julia Peterson, a historic preservation advocate, rose and praised the teenagers for participating in the process. But Peterson indicated that those arguing for "pride in Parsippany" and about the bad field conditions are missing the point.

"I think it's possible that no one is objecting to the turfing of the field," she said. "The objection is to how it is funded and the intent of the fund when we voted in 2006. Let's think carefully about how we do it." 

Resident Robert Crawford thanked the mayor for the upcoming public hearing.

"There are a lot of questions. Who is gathering the information so that when there is the meeting on Feb. 7, there will be information available?  Have you gathered information independently regarding safety? ... Have you looked at other alternatives to turfing the field so that the town can understand it has choices on this issue? What about an exit strategy? Who is doing the research?"

Resident Michael Espejo offered his opinion, noting that the purpose of the Open Space Committee is to look out for open-space concerns.

"It's to make the quality of life we had here better not just for young people, but for everybody," he said. "Yeah, I do agree that  if those fields look like you people said they are, the Board of Education should be responsible to find a way to make it better."

Barberio said there will be more dialogue with the Board of Education about sharing services and how to go about it. 

"We need to know what things residents want, such as curfews. A lot of it is going to be hashed out," he said.

Resident Pat Petaccia spoke to the teenagers.

"I love the kids being here, but this is being paid for the taxpayers," she said. "It's not coming out of your pockets. Yet."
 
The mayor had a statement for the young people too.

"This is your money. Your parents vote and pay taxes," he said. "If we couldn't use open space funds and had to raise taxes, I wouldn't do the project. This project would not happen.

"In 2010, when I became the mayor, the state took $1.2 million in state aid away from the township," Barberio explained. The next year they imposed a two percent tax cap. Now we've got to become creative to keep our services going and our assets valuable. That's why I thought [taking 51 percent of the school board's control of the fields to obtain a conservation easement] was the best way to do it."