Turf Field Proposal Rejected By Bernardsville Voters

Bernardsville Borough voted firmly to reject a non-binding ballot question of whether to spend between $1.25- to $1.41-million to put turf on an existing borough field at the Upper Polo grounds off Seney Drive, but voted in favor to authorize spending an estimated $10-million to upgrade roads throughout the borough.

The 1,544 to 997 vote in unofficial results, not including absentee and provisional ballots, authorizes the borough to spend up to $10 million for as yet-unspecified road projects.

Voters also gave their approval in unopposed elections to Republicans Jeffrey DeLeo, who received 2,206 votes, and Michael DePoortere, who received 2,171 votes from the 3,171 Bernardsville voters (55.9 percent of registered voters) to cast a ballot on Tuesday. Incumbent Lauriann Swabda received 1,189 votes in her unopposed bid to continue as a borough representative on the Board of Education.

The unofficial 1,699 to 858 vote against the turf field may not be the final word on the proposal, however. The vote was non-binding and Mayor Lee Honecker noted at the last from savings in retired debt as well as annual contributions from the Open Space fund.

Bernardsville Borough Councilman Craig Lawrence had outlined plans for paying for the project over an estimated four years, which he said would not impact the borough tax rate.

The proposal outlined included drawing $100,000 this from funds already built up in the existing municipal open space account, which also can be used for recreation, leaving $130,000 to be used for other purposes, he told the council and members of the borough's open space advisory committee at Monday's council meeting.

The remainder of the $500,000 down payment would come from $200,000 in capital improvement funds and $200,000 in retiring debt, Lawrence said.

For the next four years, $50,000 would be drawn from the open space account annually, leaving an estimated $45,000 for other purposes, Lawrence said. The borough's open space tax is a separate account from other municipal finances.

The remainder of the annual $175,000 total to be put toward financing the project would come from the other sources, he said.

Since the ballot question is non-binding, meaning that officials would not have to abide by the results, Honecker said the Borough Council would have to decide whether to go ahead and install the turf field anyway if the question is rejected.

Bernardsville Borough Councilman Craig Lawrence outlined plans for paying for the project over an estimated four years, which he said would not impact the borough tax rate.

The proposal outlined included drawing $100,000 this from funds already built up in the existing municipal open space account, which also can be used for recreation, leaving $130,000 to be used for other purposes, he told the council and members of the borough's open space advisory committee at Monday's council meeting.

The remainder of the $500,000 down payment would come from $200,000 in capital improvement funds and $200,000 in retiring debt, Lawrence said.

For the next four years, $50,000 would be drawn from the open space account annually, leaving an estimated $45,000 for other purposes, Lawrence said. The borough's open space tax is a separate account from other municipal finances.

The remainder of the annual $175,000 total to be put toward financing the project would come from the other sources, he said.

Honecker said at the meeting that initially the proposal had been to finance all of the project from borough open space funds, but borough officials later revised the formula. The open space funding account is financed through a separate open space tax of 2 cents per $100 of assessed property value approved by voters in 1998.

Officials said the actual proposal is different than that to be printed on Nov. 6 ballot, which was pre-approved before the change in funding plans. That question asked if voters would approve the initial spending of $200,000 from the open space fund to pay for a turf field estimated to cost between $1,245,000 and $1,411,000, with the balance to be funding by bonding that would be repaid entirely through the open space account.

Since the ballot question is non-binding, meaning that officials would not have to abide by the results, Honecker said the Borough Council would have to decide whether to go ahead and install the turf field anyway if the question is rejected.