SAYREVILLE – The Borough Council in Sayreville has completed the approval of a memorandum of understanding with the Sayreville School District Board of Education that allows the borough to lease a baseball field dedicated to a resident killed in the Vietnam War, while the district leases another property for use as a transportation complex.
The memorandum of understanding between the borough and district was approved by council members on May 9. Board members approved the memorandum in late April.
Through the memorandum, the borough will lease a baseball and softball complex on Woodland Avenue, located in the Morgan section of Sayreville, from the district.
The complex, which is on the grounds of the Jesse Selover Elementary School, includes a field dedicated to PFC Wayne “Butch” Grant, a Sayreville resident who was killed during the Vietnam War in 1967.
The lease agreement does not include the school itself, including the front lawn, and the teacher parking lots, according to the memorandum.
In turn, the district will lease property on the northbound side of Cheesequake Road, across from the Center for Lifelong Learning and between athletic fields and DuPont properties.
The district and the borough will each pay $1 for their respective leases, according to the memorandum. The terms of the leases are for 50 years and have a 25-year renewal option.
As noted in the memorandum, the borough is in need of athletic fields, a playground and a parking area for recreational programs, which will be used through the athletic complex. The district is in need of a new bus staging and service area, which will be constructed on Cheesequake Road.
According to district administrators, the transportation complex is for new buses that were purchased to address a growing student population.
The memorandum follows a joint meeting between the Borough Council and Board of Education in March to determine a location for the proposed transportation complex, which was the first joint meeting for the two bodies.
Residents objected to having the proposed transportation complex built at the athletic fields after board members passed a resolution in December to approve Spiezle Architectural Group, Inc. for services related to the construction of the transportation complex at Jesse Selover School. The board subsequently passed a new resolution in February that removed mention of the Jesse Selover School.
With the complete approval of the memorandum, the transportation complex will not be built at the athletic fields and the Cheesequake Road property is officially confirmed as the location of the transportation complex.
“This was an absolute, momentous situation that we had transpire,” Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick said. “It took the two parties coming together, something that had not been done before, holding that joint meeting. I am so very proud at the way this council worked with the Board of Education, the way we were able to find a common good for all of our residents and also for our students.”