Commissioners Tackle Turf Issue

The Haddonfield Board of Commissioners are expected to vote tonight on a resolution to spend $354,000 as part of a $1 million project to install artificial turf on two fields at . The money will be contingent on $500,000 in private funds raised by a community group for the project.

The borough board of education has already approved $150,000 toward the project, which will resurface turf at the high school football stadium and the adjacent Anniversary Field. The borough owns Anniversary Field.

from Joe Del Duca, of the Turf Field Committee, a group of residents who have raised $250,000 toward the effort, so far. Del Duca told commissioners he needed an immediate endorsement of his effort to continue aggressive fundraising.

Commissioner Jeff Kasko was initially the lone holdout among the three commissioners for an immediate approval of the campaign. The commissioners are the borough's top elected officials. Kasko eventually relented after assurances there will be an opportunity for public comment on the resolution before a vote at an action meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the .

Kasko's concerns may have been justified. A Haddonfield Patch survey on the plan had tallied 780 votes as of 6 a.m. today. Respondents were against the plan by a 58 percent to 40 margin. The survey is also included in this story and you can still vote.

Readers also posted 31 comments on the issue.

"This news nauseates me," said HAV. "What is wrong with our town? How can the town/school district spend that much $$ on something that serves a specific audience—only a fraction of our population."

"The news nauseates you?" Linda McLaughlin responded. "You are right, turf fields would serve a specific audience, a VERY LARGE specific audience. Are you also forgetting that half of the cost of this entire project is coming from citizens in this town who are ponying up their own money to make this happen? It is a need, a real need and has been for way too long."

"The addition of a turf field to HMHS is some of the best news I could have received as a recent HMHS graduate," said hfield93. "After spending the past four years of my high school career on the playing field two seasons out of each academic year, I have first hand experience of how awful our grass fields are."

The borough spends more than $40,000 annually for maintenance of three public fields, including Anniversary Field near the high school, borough Administrator Sharon McCullough said. One argument for the artificial turf field is reduced maintenance costs. Another is that Haddonfield Memorial High School and borough youth sports have some of the poorest fields in the area, proponents of the plan said.

"Good Lord! What has happened to fiscal common sense in this town?" asked . "At the Commissioners' meeting last week, it was disclosed that borough tax rates are being adjusted to offset the deficit caused by uncollected real estate taxes; our roads are like driving the Baja, public buildings and schools are in a state of disrepair, older folks are having a difficult time staying in homes that have been mortgage free for years, because of our crushing taxes.....and we are going to spend a huge amount of $$$ for a project that will address the wishes of a special interest group and not the residents as a whole....there's something wrong here."

"This is a super idea for time when there's lots of money around," said MSM53. "With the borough's crumbling infrastructure, continually rising taxes and long-time residents being forced to sell up and move out, I'm astounded that we even have any money lying around to contribute."

You can have your say tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Hall.