Fees to use the two new artificial turf fields due to open on Labor Day at Mountain Park in Bernards Twp, NJ have been set for sports teams and organizations, with no exceptions to be granted — even for school groups and sports teams.
The Bernards Township Committee on Tuesday night approved fees in three categories, depending on the number of township residents involved in the sports program and whether it is a commercial organization, of $55, $80 or $110 per hour of use.
The proposal to build the two new fields at a cost of $1.7 million — with $1.1 million of that amount coming from the final funding in a township open space, as well as a sale of other tracts of open space land to Somerset County — was sold to voters as being “taxpayer neutral,” Township Committeewoman Carolyn Gaziano said.
Other Township Committee members supported that view at Tuesday’s meeting. However, Township Committeeman Thomas Russo persuaded other members of the committee to add a clause to the fee resolution specifying that all teams sponsored by the Bernards Township Board of Education would be in the category that charges the least amount. Read it all here