FAIR HAVEN — The grass will soon be greener in the borough. At least the grass in the parks and on the school grounds should be.
Through the cooperative effort of several borough youth sports organizations, the fire company and the Board of Education, the borough recently purchased a new tractor and a special field-maintenance device called an aerovator and a tractor to attach it to.
Joe Perotto, the borough recreation director, explained that the new piece of equipment will allow the borough to substantially improve its field-maintenance program. The new device aerates, seeds and fertilizes all in one operation.
Previously, according to Perotto, each of those actions had to be done separately, and due to manpower and equipment limitations, the maintenance of borough parks and fields has been seriously lacking.
"Garry Allers is a one-man gang as far as ball fields are concerned," Perotto said. "He does a tremendous job. This really should make his job a lot easier."
Perotto said the aerovator was demonstrated for the borough by Storr Tractor, Somerville, and it was obvious that it would be beneficial to the borough.
In the past the borough had to borrow equipment from other communities to do maintenance work on the fields.
The borough will now be able to properly maintain all its fields and playgrounds on a regularly scheduled basis, Perotto said.
Fertilization will be done annually in the spring and fall, he noted, and seeding should be more effective because the machine covers seeds, preventing loss to wind and erosion.
The machine also will be used to soften the ball fields and playgrounds when needed.
Perotto explained that the aerovator has 3-to-4 inch spikes that go into the ground and vibrate to soften the area.
"The community owes a debt of gratitude to Fair Haven Baseball, Fair Haven Softball, Fair Haven Soccer, the Fair Haven Fire Company, and the Fair Haven Board of Education for participating in this purchase," Perotto said, noting that the organizations picked up more than 75 percent of the $25,000 cost of the tractor and aerovator.
Perotto said the aerovator by itself would have cost just $7,500, but the borough had no tractor that could move it.
"Just buying the aero-vator would have been like buying a car with no engine," Perotto said.
To be able to use the aero-vator a new Cub Cadet tractor also was purchased.
"It [the tractor] is very good in tight quarters," Perotto noted. "It’s good for baseball diamonds. We should be set for quite a while now as far as being able to maintain parks and playgrounds."