By CHRISTIAN MANAHAN
Staff Writer

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP – The local governing body approved a $9,500 recreational needs study during its meeting Monday, March 17.

A variety of proposals designed by Remington, Vernick and Walberg Engineers were presented to the Recreational Advisory Board at its meeting Monday, March 10. That board decided on three proposals and submitted them to Township Committee for its consideration Monday.

Committeeman Joe Nickels said during the meeting that the township has to be “very practical” when spending taxpayer money, given the budget constraints this year.

“We are faced with extreme budget problems,” he said. “We’ve got to think outside of the box.”
Following a 10-minute discussion, a consensus was reached by committee members to go with the first proposal, the least costly of the three. The most costly one was for $19,500.

Officials said that they are not locked into the $9,500 amount and could add more funding if it’s appropriate.

“We can always add more components to it if we need to,” Mayor Charles Pritchard said.

According to a letter sent by the engineering firm addressed to Township Administrator Ed Sasdelli, the approved proposal calls for preparing a recreational needs survey, the preparation of a base map locating all the municipal, county, and school district properties, a series of meetings involving township officials, church organizations, and various athletic associations, and a preparation of a survey report by the firm.

Representatives from Remington, Vernick, and Walberg, who also serve as the township engineers, will begin following through with the study by the end of this week.

Funding for the study will be coming out of a trust fund dedicated for township recreation.

The needs study will help decide where the township’s recreational facilities should be located and how to address recreational needs, Pritchard said.

Meanwhile, committee members Amy Gatto and Roger Silva said the study is much needed by the municipality.

“We need to stop the band aid approach,” said Gatto, who is the body’s recreation board liaison. “We need to do a comprehensive in-depth analysis.”

Silva said it is appropriate that the township do this study to assess what the municipality has and what it needs.

“We need to look at what we have and what is available,” he said. “(The study) will try to fit current and future needs together so we can have a program ready for the young people to play. The more we provide for our youth, the better.”