COLTS NECK – A group of residents will be asked for their input regarding the hiring of a vendor who will install a multipurpose synthetic turf field at Five Point Park, 50 Five Points Road.
After studying the issue, the ad hoc committee will make a nonbinding recommendation to the Township Committee. The elected members of the governing body will reserve the right to accept or to disregard the committee’s recommendation.
Municipal officials have said the turf field will accommodate baseball, soccer, football, field hockey and lacrosse.
Mayor J.P. Bartolomeo said he would like the ad hoc committee to consist of five residents and Recreation Director Tom Hennessy. Hennessy will provide input from the perspective of the Recreation Department, but will not be a voting member of the panel.
Bartolomeo said he has a number of people in mind to serve on the ad hoc committee. He said he wants to be certain that no one who sits on the panel has any type conflict with the potential vendors.
“I want to make sure these five individuals have not been approached, contacted by or know anything about these two companies, otherwise I’ll move on,” the mayor said. “It’s a bizarre situation we have put ourselves in because of the way this industry operates. It’s not how I conduct myself, nor how I would want anything conducted for this town, but it is strange.”
Municipal officials said there are two bidders who want to manufacture and install the turf field at Five Point Park. Officials said there are a limited number of firms that specialize in the installation of turf fields.
“It’s contentious between the two vendors, to put it nicely,” Committeman Russell Macnow said. Forming an ad hoc committee “is a way to take the Township Committee out of it and get the best view of which turf would be best for the town.
“The ad hoc committee will be made up of objective folks who have nothing to do with anything, residents of the town. They may be interested because they may have children who play sports … In my eight years of serving on the Township Committee, we have dealt with a number of vendors, but this is unusual. We have not seen this in the past,” Macnow said.