Politics & Government

Bancroft and Turf Fields on Commissioners Agenda

Haddonfield borough commissioner meet in a work session.

The borough commissioner met Monday evening for a work session.

The work sessions are typically meetings to discuss public policy and actions but not necessarily vote on resolutions or ordinances. No votes are expected in tonight's meeting.

Agenda items included a scheduled discussion on the failed effort for a public purchase of the 19.2-acre Bancroft property. Voters rejected the purchase in a Jan. 22 bond referendum.

Find out what's happening in Haddonfield-Haddon Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The commissioners also plan to have a discussion about how to pay for the installation of an artificial-turf field on a property adjacent to the high school football stadium near Kings Highway East. They approved a plan in May to spend $356,000 as part of a just over $1 million project to install turf on their field and the football stadium.

The borough school board will pay $135,000 toward the project. The public funds were contingent on the borough Let's Turf It committee raising at least $500,000 in private money for the project. They have raised more than $600,000, so far.

Find out what's happening in Haddonfield-Haddon Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The turf field issue is intertwined with Bancroft because the borough planned to use its total of $600,000 it has collected for an open-space tax toward the public purchase of that property. Now that voters have rejected it, the open-space funds could be used for the turf-field project. The resolution approving the turf money stated it could be paid either with capital improvement funds, which often require bond money, or with money already collected from the open-space tax.

Please check back for details of the meeting on Wednesday.

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