By Peter Sclafani, Staff Writer
UPPER FREEHOLD — Plans to take Reed Park from a few soccer fields to a recreation hub continued to gain steam at the Township Committee meeting Aug. 2.
The Township Committee approved applying for another grant from the Monmouth County Municipal Open Space Grant Program. The grant, for $211,000, requires the township to match the same amount of money that is given to them.
Upper Freehold received $250,000 from the first grant application, which required the township to match the amount of money given to it; that money has not yet been spent. If the second grant is approved, the township will have a total of $922,000 to spend upgrading the park.
In 2011, the Reed Park proposal called for drainage improvements to the fields, the relocation of a softball field, two paved parking lots, a walking path and a building for a concession stand and indoor bathrooms.
Later, the proposed price tag rose to $1.3 million with new options, including a larger building, a veterans memorial and an overhang above a concrete pad to provide shelter from sun and storms.
If the grant application is approved by Monmouth County, Upper Freehold will have more than half the money it needs to cover the price of renovating the park under the $1.3 million proposal. However, Deputy Mayor Stephen Alexander said the project may be scaled back if it becomes too expensive by the time the work gets under way.
Residents turned out to support the committee’s decision to apply for another grant, which will be used to install lighting in the proposed parking lot as well as build trails in the park.
”It’s time to stop rethinking and get this park built,” Upper Freehold resident Richard Look said. “The demand for recreation space is now.”
Reed Park has been a much-debated project in Upper Freehold due to the million-dollar price tag on the project if everything at the park is upgraded.
Mr. Alexander read emails from Upper Freehold residents who are in favor of the plans.
Last month, the committee OK’d getting all the permits it would need for the entire $1.3 million project because it didn’t want to limit its options if bids came in low enough to do more than planned. The town also could phase in the extra components in future years as funds became available if it had all environmental permits from the start.
The committee voted unanimously to apply for the grant. Mayor LoriSue Mount was not in attendance.
”The need is now and has been for 10 years,” Mr. Look said. “We can’t make our children wait another 10 years.”

