The West Windsor-Plainsboro Soccer Association is proceeding with plans for Duck Pond Park, as part of the memorandum of agreement it struck about a year-and-a-half ago with the township regarding use of township fields.
The next phase includes the installation of lighting at the park, a resolution for which is on the agenda for the Township Council’s meeting on Monday, May 18.
The agreement between the association and the township was struck in December, 2007, after the association approached the township about three locations it has looked into renovating. The first was the Zaitz Park on Southfield Road, where the association wanted to install lights. The second was Conover Park on North Post Road, where the lights already existed, but the association wanted to improve the field surface and possible install an irrigation system.
The third was Duck Pond Park, on Meadow Road, a recreational site that is in the process of being developed. The association wanted to create soccer fields there. Since then the association has constructed three soccer fields. Now they want to illuminate them.
During the council’s May 4 meeting, the township’s landscape architect, Dan Dobromilsky, told the council that the association was looking to install lights at the back of the park, bordering Meadow Road.
Dobromilsky said that the soccer association is paying for the installation of the lighting, and the township would be responsible for facilitating the electrical services to the area for the lighting and finish work on constructing a parking lot and fencing in that area of the park, as stated under the memorandum of agreement.
The 30-year general agreement the council approved sets forth the responsibilities of both parties at four of the township’s fields, including maintenance responsibilities and terms of use. Each park comes with a separate memorandum.
The general memorandum states that both parties will meet 90 days before the expiration to negotiate a renewal, but allows for either the association or the township to opt out of the agreement in any of those years, provided it gives 12 months notice to the other side. But if the township opts out early, it agreed to pay a “termination fee” based on “the parties’ best estimate and a fair and reasonable calculation of the value of the association’s contribution to the fields built by the association under this agreement and owned by the township.”
The general agreement also requires the association to submit a detailed list of costs for improvements to the soccer facilities and requires the association to provide financial information relating to its activities, contributions, and expenditures. The termination fee would be based upon the association’s annual submission of its costs from the previous calendar year. The memorandum also sets responsibilities for both parties when it comes to their respective field maintenance duties.
The separate agreement for Duck Pond Park is set for 30 years. The township had already built an access drive, part of the parking area, and storm water detention basins in 2004 to facilitate its development.##M:[more]##
While township officials haven’t determined the costs of finishing the rest of the work, Dobromilsky said the fencing is estimated to cost between $4,”000 and $5,”000, and maybe about $40,”000 to $50,”000 to build the rest of the parking area.
The lighting installation itself should not take very long — about a month or two — depending on certain factors like getting the power service to the area and whether there is a backlog in ordering the type of lights that have been selected for the project, Dobromilsky said.
The council adopted a request to have the item memorialized in a resolution to be adopted on May 18.
