Ringwood moving ahead with plan to install faux turf using grant money

Borough officials are moving forward with a plan to install artificial turf on a local athletic field using open space funds and grant money.

Resolution 2013-335, passed unanimously by the council during its Dec. 17 meeting, authorizes Borough Clerk Kelley Rohde and Borough Manager Scott Heck to apply for funds from the 2014 Passaic County Open Space Farmland Preservation Trust Grant program in order to cover the cost of bringing turf to the borough.

Both Heck and Rohde expressed the importance of passing the resolution before 2014 to meet the grant application deadline.

"We have to hold public hearings to start this process," said Heck.

"It's a short timeline," Rohde said. "The entire thing has to be submitted before March 14."

In order to meet the March 14 deadline, she said, it would be necessary to schedule a public hearing on the turf project at the scheduled Jan. 21 council meeting. That would leave just enough time to approve minutes from that session at a February council meeting, notify nearby property owners of the borough's intention to build a turf field, and obtain letters of support for the project from various borough entities, including the Open Space Advisory Committee and the Recreation Commission.

Once all those steps are completed, Rohde said, "The council will have to pass another resolution in February," authorizing the submission of the final application to Passaic County.

Heck said he has already let county officials know of the borough's intention to apply for grant money to fund the venture, which is being called the Redevelopment and Rehabilitation for Ringwood Turf Field Project.

The public hearing is scheduled for the Borough Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.

"Kelley (Rohde) and I will be really busy in January to get this ready," Heck said, "but we're going to do everything we can."

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Ringwood moving ahead with plan to install faux turf using grant money