Effort involves Lawrence and Hopewell townships and Pennington and Hopewell boroughs
By John Tredrea
Pennington has joined Hopewell and Lawrence townships and Hopewell Borough in applying for a $1.5 million Mercer County matching grant to develop eight multipurpose athletic fields at the 51-acre Twin Pines Airport tract in southeastern Hopewell Township.
Pennington Borough Council voted unanimously Tuesday to participate in the application for the "Mercer at Play" grant. The Hopewell and Lawrence township committees passed similar measures two weeks ago, as did the Hopewell Borough Council last week.
The four municipalities have agreed that Hopewell and Lawrence townships would buy the land and pay for the construction of the fields, while the boroughs would share in the cost of maintaining them. The share Pennington would pay for maintenance would determined on a "pro rata" basis, borough Councilman Joseph Lawver said Tuesday.
Use of the fields at Twin Pines would be shared by recreational organizations from the four municipalities. In Hopewell Valley, children from the township and both boroughs have played together for decades on teams in the Hopewell Valley Baseball Softball Association, Hopewell Valley Soccer Association and other leagues.
The Twin Pines Airport is at the intersection of Pennington-Lawrenceville and Federal City roads. The latter road runs along the border between Lawrence and Hopewell townships. The airport is owned by Hopewell Township resident William Weasner, who has consented in writing to the filing of the grant application by the four municipalities.
Officials of Hopewell Township and Pennington say the Weasner family is interested in seeing Twin Pines tract put to some kind of recreational use. They would not disclose the price they asking for the land.
Township Engineer Paul Pogorzelski, in a letter concerning the grant application to county planner Donna Lewis, said the proposed Twin Pines project "…arises because of the critical shortage of active recreation fields in Hopewell Valley. The Hopewell Township recreation element of the Master Plan has identified the need for four additional multipurpose fields and two softball fields to meet the needs of our recreational groups."
Mr. Pogorzelski also has said that the flat runway portion of the Twin Pines Airport the runway is all grass could be converted to fields relatively easily.
Township Committeeman John Murphy has said the county has told him that a joint "Mercer at Play" grant application would stand a better chance of being approved than an application filed by a single municipality.
Township Mayor Vanessa Sandom has said a number of other Mercer municipalities are expected to apply for the $1.5 million grant also being sought by four municipalities for the Twin Pines project.

