Municipal officials in Holmdel are scratching a concept plan to develop Phillips Park and will instead consider making improvements to existing athletic fields in the community.
During a Holmdel Township Committee meeting on Oct. 9, Mayor Tom Critelli said members of the governing body have unanimously agreed to set aside a preliminary concept plan that proposed updates to Phillips Park, which is located at 110 Telegraph Hill Road.
Enhancements to an existing baseball field, the construction of a multi-sport synthetic turf field, the relocation of existing basketball courts and the creation of 50 new parking spaces were proposed in the concept plan.
Residents have taken issue with the potential cost of work at the park, as well as who would be permitted to use the fields and the impact the project could have on taxpes.
Critelli said that after speaking with members of athletic organizations in Holmdel, committee members would rather explore the idea of renovating existing athletic fields.
“I have asked the user groups to give us feedback, quickly, so we can get some movement on recreation, field and facility improvements,” Critelli said. “We were criticized for years about not having any action.”
Critelli said the Holmdel Youth Athletic Association (HYAA) submitted a report outlining the condition of the athletic fields in the township. He said the report could be a better fit and help to repurpose the substandard condition of certain fields.
Improving existing fields “is significantly less in scope, if you are looking at dollars and cents, in my opinion,” Critelli said. “I would like to make a recommendation that our engineer take a copy of this report tonight and begin working on the preparation of the costs to take all of these improvements into consideration so we can move a bond ordinance forward at the next meeting.
“… I made a commitment at the beginning of the year that I was going to take action and spend money we budgeted six months ago in an effort to give the children in this community better fields, better recreation facilities and a better opportunity to perfect their skills,” Critelli said.
He said members of the governing body will move forward and devise a course of action to renovate existing athletic fields. The mayor said the concept plan to develop Phillips Park would be placed on the back burner.
“Some of the requests from the HYAA and the other user groups were actually quite simple,” Committeeman Eric Hinds said. “… Phillips Park, we were trying to jam too much stuff even though (the park) is a town-owned park and we would love to see some turf, maybe we will have (one turf field) and see how it goes.”
Hinds said making basic improvements to athletic fields, which could include the addition of a functioning scoreboard at the Indian Hill School and re-sodding other fields, could be a “huge win.”
According to the report submitted by HYAA, feedback was requested from basketball, baseball, softball, lacrosse and wrestling commissioners who are affiliated with the organization. Improvements documented in the report include the ongoing maintenance of grass fields, sheds to house equipment, the repurposing of specific fields and the installation of field lights, among other concerns.
Several residents who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting said they were pleased with the proposal to update existing fields. Residents previously said the potentially costly initiative to construct synthetic turf fields and parking stalls and to relocate existing courts at Phillips Park was less than favorable.
Resident Kathy Weber said, “I would like to thank the leadership of HYAA for doing what Preserve Holmdel has been asking for all along, doing an assessment to see what the actual maintenance needs are to support all Holmdel children. To say, ‘we wholeheartedly meet the needs of Holmdel children,’ … this seems like a really reasonable, responsible proposal.”
Also during public comment, several residents continued to express their displeasure with Holmdel’s affordable housing obligation and litigation related to that issue.
Lea Shave, who is running as an independent candidate for Township Committee, said she did not appreciate what she described as a “lack of transparency” on the matter.
Officials have said there is a lawsuit pertaining to affordable housing that has been brought to the governing body’s attention, at present. Officials said they could not disclose details of the pending litigation, but did say multiple parties are involved and that they are addressing the matter. They said more information could become available in the future.
“Would you agree the public really won’t have any input” on affordable housing? resident Jay Yannello asked, directing his question to Committeeman Michael Nikolis.
Nikolis said members of the public would be able to comment on an affordable housing settlement if and when a settlement is reached with the parties that are suing Holmdel.
“This doesn’t pass the smell test,” Yanello said.