Boro Expected to go out to Bid on Rec Complex Portion

In his presentation to the Board of Education Tuesday night, Madison Recreation Complex Advisory Committee chair Marty Horn said he expects the borough to go out and bid on what is being called Phase 1a in about two to four weeks.

Much of Horn's presentation was identical to what he has presented to the Borough Council, and what borough engineer Bob Vogel presented to the Planning Board over the past month.

Phase 1a and 1b both involve the construction of turf fields on the MRC, which is located on what is referred to as the 49 acres, which was purchased from Florham Park. The two fields on the high school property are part of what was referred to as Phase 1a, which can proceed as soon as funding is in place. Phase 1b, which are the fields in the pit area, will need to get DEP permits, as the top left field boarders–but is not on–wetlands. (A map of these fields accompanies this article)

Along with an expected time frame for going out to bid, Horn gave a few more details on the fundraising portion of the project that he and councilman Don Links have been working on.

"All the while we've been planning fundraising," Horn said. "Once we know it is going to happen, we can go out."

Horn said there are six areas they are hoping to derive money from. One, which has already been discussed in public, is a $20 per member user fee which each rec league would contribute. As of now, Horn anticipates this would generate about $45,000 per year, which Horn and Links envision being used to pay the interest for three years on interest-only notes Links would like to see borrowed to allow immediate work on the complex. The suggested amount is $3 million in interest-only notes, with an interest rate of 1.5 percent.

Horn said that Jim Brueckner of the East Morris Reds has joined in pledging the user fee, which all recreation leagues in Madison except for Little League have signed up give to the project. Horn said he is hopeful and expects that, once a few issues are worked out, Little League will also join in pledging a user fee.

Horn also went into a little more detail about the corporate fundraising component, which is currently suggested as a two-tiered approach. Tier 1 donors would give $50,000 a year for five years, which Horn says one business has already approached the committee about. Tier 2 donors would give $10,000 a year for five years, which Horn also said a business has approached the committee in regards to.

Horn said the borough still needs to figure out how the committee can accept the money, as the state has rules as to how such sponsorships must be brought to bid.

Another component of the fundraising would be a gala which Links had already talked about at the May 24 council meeting. It appears as if the New York Jets would be willing to allow the borough to use their facility in Florham Park for a fundraising gala, which the committee believes will start yearly in 2011 and raise between $50,ooo-$100,000. Though it had originally been believed the Jets may be able to let the borough use the space for free, Horn said they are required to place a rental fee on the space.

The other two components of the fundraising piece, according to Horn, would be possible camps held on the complex–mainly during the summer–and one-time donations.

He said from his experience helping to raise money for Monica Field, he believes there will be interest from people for one-time donations, but to be conservative the committee is not expecting any in its fundraising projections.

A total of $3 million has consistently been used as the amount it will take to construct the fields in both Phase 1a and 1b. It is expected that the Board of Education will give $1 million to the project once Green Village Road School is sold. It has also been expected that, over the course of time, the borough would pay another $1 million through its open space trust fund. The committee expects the remaining $1 million to come through fundraising, though it hopes to raise a larger amount to help develop more of the site.