Following in similar fashion with the memorandum of understanding that the Township Council approved last year with the WW-P Soccer Association, the council is now moving on to the next sport on the list — football.##M:[more]##
The agreement sets forth the responsibilities of both parties when it comes to usage of township fields and their maintenance. During the council’s November 24 meeting, council members reviewed a draft memorandum of understanding with the West Windsor Junior Football Club that contains language based on the agreement approved last December with the soccer association.
“The difference is that football is confined right now to just one park,” said Ken Jacobs, the township’s recreation and parks division manager. “They were at Conover Park, but since we started working with soccer, they have moved over to Community Park, where there are two playing fields.”
The general agreement lays out the parameters, with individual agreements for each of the parks that specifically list the football club’s responsibilities. In this case, council reviewed a draft of the five-year agreement for the club’s use of Community Park. “They operate the concession stands along with the lacrosse club at Community Park. They maintain the interior of the building. The township maintains the exterior of the building. Everything else is very similar” to the soccer agreement, Jacobs added.
In the soccer agreement, the wording of the draft outlines a “termination fee,” or what happens in the event the township changes use of the fields, or the financial relationship between the two parties does not work out. The total amount of money the township would pay the soccer association if it were ever to do so varies based on factors set forth in the agreement. The reason for this is that the soccer association invests money into the facilities and fields on the township’s parks and wants to guarantee that once large sums of money was expended, it would continue to be able to use the fields.
The memorandum with the soccer association also sets responsibilities for both parties when it comes to their respective field maintenance duties. The original draft agreement guaranteed 30 years of use to the association for the Duck Pond Park. With the other parks, there were shorter, five-year terms, with opportunities for renewal.
The termination fee language, as well as the 30-year and five-year time periods and maintenance language, are all the same when it comes to the draft of the agreement with the football club, which also spends its money for upkeep of the fields. The 30-year period applies to the general agreement, while the agreement for each individual park comes in five-year terms.
The measure will be on the agenda for the council’s meeting on Monday, December 8. Jacobs said that an agreement with the local lacrosse club might be next on the list.
