Playing Fields, Road Construction on Council Agenda Tonight

It’s the second Monday in June. That means the Madison Borough Council is meeting at 8 p.m. at . And if the council is meeting, than there are sure to be items concerning playing fields on the agenda.

Scheduled to be introduced tonight is an item entitled “Grass Fields User Fees,” but Council member Don Links said the item is less about user fees than it is to serve as a test for how the borough manages its natural grass playing fields.

“Looking ahead to 2012, we want to look at ways to lessen the burden on taxpayers and the and save some money,” Links said. “This is just to talk about ideas, to continue a discussion that has gone on here for years.”

There are currently no user fees associated with borough grass fields.

Links said the essence of his idea would be to get one of the sports organizations to take over maintenance of the fields. Organizers of the sport, which he would not disclose, would be responsible for seeding, cutting and lining the fields — tasks now handled by the DPW.

“We’ve seen other towns work this way, and it’s something we want to talk about, something perhaps to test,” Links said.

Another agenda item is a resolution awarding a contract to Dennis Harrington of Madison for field inspections and oversight of construction of the Madison Recreation Complex’s synthetic turf fields in the amount of $45,475. Marty Horn, chairman of the Madison Athletic Foundation, said that Harrington has been hired by the borough before to supervise road projects. He formerly worked for T&M Associates, which did some of the early planning work on the MRC.

Other agenda items include ordinances appropriating funds for road construction. This includes $450,000 from the capital fund balance for reconstruction of Green Avenue from Woodland to Shunpike, and another ordinance for appropriating $539,000 from the General Capital Improvement Fund for reconstruction of Pine, Cedar, Rose and Beech avenues.