Council Spars Over Environmental Testing Request

Rec complex site a theme at meeting. Garbage collection and Bottle Hill Day also discussed.

A request by the Madison Environmental Commission to test water runoff at the site of the Madison Recreation Complex sparked a variety of questions and comments from council members at Wednesday night's Borough Council meeting. Councilman Robert Catalanello said that the progress on both the turf fields and the community garden was substantial, and brought a request from Madison Environmental Commission members to test the water runoff at the site. The issue sparked several conversations throughout the meeting, ranging from whether it was within the council's purview to grant permission to do the testing, whether the site is located on a wellhead zone, and why the commission was asking to test the water on the borough's land and not on the…

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Karin Szotak

5:29 pm on Friday, October 14, 2011

Steve, yes actually my husband tried to sweep up some of it, however the tiny pieces were impossible to get all of them and spread throughout the entire street before anyone realized they were there. We also live on a quiet street, but bc all the debris spread before anyone could get to it, I mean it seemed like half of the can was dumped in the middle of the road, and cars were driving on it for…   more ›

UPDATED: Madison Signs Contract for Construction of Turf Fields

LandTek will handle long-discussed project.

(This version corrects previous information. Restroom facilities are budgeted for but not to be constructed as part of the current fields contract.) Madison Borough has signed a contract with LandTek Group for construction of long-discussed multi-use synthetic turf athletic fields. The signing officially kicks off the first construction phase of the Madison Recreation Complex. The lighted fields, to be located behind the high school in an area known as The Pit, will encompass 10 of the 49 acres recently annexed by the borough from Florham Park. Cost of the project is $3.398 million and includes parking, lighting, bleachers and other items, and is to be financed through a combination of interest-only notes, user fees and private donations. …

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UPDATED: Turf Fields Attract 11 Bids

Officials have 60 days to review bids for first phase of Madison Recreation Complex.

Madison officials have opened sealed bids from contractors for the synthetic turf fields to be installed as the first phase of development of the Madison Recreation Complex. The bids were due at the Hartley Dodge Memorial municipal offices by 10 a.m. Wednesday. The project, planned for a 10-acre site adjacent to Madison High School and part of the 61-acre parcel annexed from Florham Park, has been the subject of emotional debate for years, but especially in the past several months after the Borough Council earlier this year voted to move ahead with the fields, estimated to cost $3.5 million. Proponents say the turf fields, which can be configured for baseball and other sports, are desperately needed as the town's existing fields are …

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Borough Still Making Changes to Turf Fields Plan

Project awaits final checks before bids go out.

Contractors will have to wait a little while longer to pick up the bid literature for Madison's artificial turf fields project. Borough designers continue to make changes to plans for construction of the fields, to be constructed in an area known as the Pit behind Madison High School. Bids for the $3.5-million project likely won't go out for at least another week, according to Codey. But before that happens, borough officials are looking forward to April 6, when Morris County announces the latest round of Green Acres grants. Madison has applied for a $500,000 grant to help pay for the project's land purchase, according to borough administrator Ray Codey. The latest design change shifts the location of electrical transformer equipment away …

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Letter to the Editor

Resident: Turf Field Project Not Fiscally Responsible

Borough council taken to task over project planning.

To the Editor: YES: Last October after weeks of hard work, Councilman Conley, Administrator Codey, Assistant Administrator Burnet, and CFO Kalafut presented a detailed assessment of the Borough's financial condition. It identified a $2.5 million shortfall going forward. Since then, the Mayor and Council have made many tough decisions about how to maintain services with minimal impact on taxpayers. That's what we elected them to do. NO: Then in January, in an abrupt about-face and without a public agenda notice, the Mayor and Council voted 4-2 to install two artificial turf fields on the 49 acre  property for an additional $3.5 million with Councilman Links' assurance that it would cost Borough taxpayers nothing. Private fundraising and the…

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Bids Ready to Go Out for Turf Fields Project

Time for waiting is over, Holden says.

With bids for construction of the $3.5-million turf fields project ready to go out, Madison Mayor Mary-Anna Holden took to the sales floor Monday night to clarify planning and environmental concerns that continue to surround development of the 49 Acres. In a presentation at the borough council meeting at Hartley Dodge Memorial, Holden traced the history of the parcel, starting with aerial photography from 1951 she said shows young stands of trees, not the aged pin oaks some say aren’t properly accounted for in planning for the turf fields. Responding to complaints that a master plan for the project is urgently needed, Holden displayed conceptual artwork originally rendered by consultant T&M Associates she said was designed to serve as a …

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MadInNJ

12:28 pm on Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Time to stop letting the Perfect be the enemy of the Good. A new superintendent has a million things more pressing to worry about than whether or not the Master Plan for the MRC has a butterfly park or a dog run (all "master" plan issues). His first questions will be, "did my AD approve this," and, "were any of the BOE members involved?" If the answers to both are "Yes," what else will he be …   more ›

Cerciello Says 49 Acres Project Needs Master Plan

Borough councilman hits plan for turf fields.

(The following is the text of a statement presented to the Madison Board of Education March 3 by borough councilman Sam Cerciello.) As to our 49 acres, our field of dreams.  Here is what WE should do and the key work is WE! WE must come together as on to make this project a state of the arts complex!   WE elected officials must do what’s right and put our egos aside for the children of this great town of Madison.   WE need a time-out! Here’s why: The school has fields and parking lots next to the town’s 49 acres.  What WE need is for the two groups to sit down and to do an overall Master Plan.   Right now WE have the town working on two turf fields that are jammed together and a poor parking plan. This is causing problems:       1.    The …

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Rec Center Contract Voted Through on 2nd Try

Vote goes through unanimously as part of consent agenda.

A contract amendment that was voted down two weeks ago by the Borough Council for additional work by T&M Associates on the Madison Recreation Center property was approved unanimously on Monday night. The resolution was part of the consent agenda, which was voted through 6-0 by council. Councilman Robert Conley, one of the three members who voted against the amended contract at the previous meeting said he was the one who wrote the agenda recommendation to have the resolution reappear on Monday. "It was in an effort to move forward," Conley said. "We knew exactly what we were voting for tonight." Conley was joined by Councilwoman Astri Baillie and Councilman Sam Cerciello as those who voted no two weeks ago. Baillie joined Conley in concern…

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Boro Expected to go out to Bid on Rec Complex Portion

Marty Horn says he believes Borough Council will do so in about two to four weeks for Phase 1a.

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…

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Talk of Fundraising Accompanies Rec Complex Presentation

Four-field plan broken into 1a, 1b with interest-only notes suggested as initial funding source.

The Borough Council voted at its meeting Monday to send a plan for what is being called Phase 1 of the Madison Recreation Complex to the Planning Board for what the borough's attorney called a courtesy review. Councilman Don Links, also on Monday, presented what he and a committee of 12 citizens and the other Republican members of the governing body have come up with as fundraising suggestions. Property that will be used for the MRC is commonly referred to as the 49 acres, and was purchased from Florham Park. It sits behind Madison High School and Ridgedale Avenue. Members of T & M Associates, the engineering design firm based in Middletown the borough had hired to map out the engineering constraints and possible functions of the property…

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