By Nick Norlen, Staff Writer
Although the completion of the Princeton Joint Recreation Department’s Master Plan won’t likely occur until the fall, members of its steering committee are busy ranking its priorities, Recreation Department Executive Director Jack Roberts said Monday.
While the top five or six priorities may change after further fine-tuning of a rough draft that will result from the process, Mr. Roberts said, the prioritization will likely be completed in the next month or so.
”It’s slow work, but it’s progressing,” said Mr. Roberts, who noted that he acts as a “facilitator” on the nine-member Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee, which is composed of four members from each municipality. “I think we all like where it’s going.”
Prioritization of items in the final plan — which was originally expected to be completed by the summer — was requested approximately four months ago by some members of Princeton’s governing bodies, both of which were in attendance at a joint meeting held in November to present the results of a recreation survey.
The survey, which compiled data from the 440 township and borough households that responded to a mailed questionnaire, was presented to both governing bodies by Brandstetter Carroll Inc., the consulting firm hired to assist the Recreation Board in its preparation of the Master Plan.
During that meeting, consultants presented data that revealed a predominant desire among residents for improvements to walking and bicycle trails and more indoor facilities, among other things.
At the time, Mr. Roberts said Brandstetter Carroll would work to attach costs to the concepts and said the next step would be for the steering committee to produce a more concrete vision of the 10-year plan.
He said Monday that he believes the steering committee definitely sees a “renovated and restored” community swimming pool as the top priority. Other specific items being considered from the 11-point priority checklist are synthetic turf for field areas and indoor facilities, he said.
Though the creation of an integrated trail system was “very prominent” among desires stated by residents, Mr. Roberts said that initiative will be considered by a separate task force.
Eventually, the Recreation Board will vote to accept the Master Plan and present it to the municipal governing bodies, Mr. Roberts said, noting that he expects the plan to be “completely finalized” and accepted by the governing bodies by this fall.
”It’s gone longer than we thought, but we like where it’s going,” he said. “I’d rather have it done really well than leap toward any decisions without doing all our homework.”
