UPDATE: Moorestown council tables turf-field discussions
Under the threat of a lawsuit from Baron and Brennan, a Voorhees law firm representing a group of Moorestown citizens, the Moorestown Township Council tonight tabled discussions on using funds from the Moorestown Open Space, Recreation, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund to construct turf fields at Wesley Bishop Park North and South.
The letter was submitted by Jeffrey Brennan of the law firm.
Mayor John Button said the township received a letter on Monday night at 6:30 p.m., just an hour before council was scheduled to discuss whether to use the fund to pay for new artificial turf fields at the two parks.
According to Button, township solicitor Thomas Coleman III didn’t see the letter until 7:20 p.m.
“I’m disappointed. I am more disappointed in the fact that we’ve reached this point,” Button said after the meeting.
The council voted to table the resolution until Coleman could receive more clarity from the firm about the lawsuit. Township Manager Scott Carew was also directed to reach out to the construction firm that submitted the low bid for the artificial turf project to see if it could be extended past the deadline of early June.
However, Coleman made it clear that the township would likely have to rebid for the project again because of the delay. If the township went ahead and approved the bid as is right now, Coleman said he would be defending two lawsuits at the same time. One from the unnamed group of Moorestown citizens, and then second from the construction company that couldn’t be paid for its work on the field, he said.
Coleman suggested that council look into a “declaratory judgment” with Judge Ronald Bookbinder of the Superior Court to once and for all see if the township could use money from its Open Space, Recreation, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund to build turf fields at the complexes.
Councilwoman Stacey Jordan again asked the council to consider putting off the field projects until sometime next spring. With Coleman saying the declaratory judgment wouldn’t be finished until July or August, Jordan said the season is already lost so why not put it off until next year?
She also questioned the necessity to use more taxpayer funding on a declaratory judgment and said the township would have more revenue with the liquor license funding coming into its budget.
Councilman Michael Testa, who has been firmly on the side of using the trust fund for the projects, again said the township is legally allowed to use money for this purpose and expressed his frustration that the township council was still discussing the issue.
Councilman Chris Chiacchio defended Jordan’s assessment that the township should not use money from the trust fund to pay for the artificial turf fields. Both council members have said they do not support using the funding throughout the process.
“Lets put this out to a referendum with an interpretive statement,” Chiacchio suggested, which was met with applause from the crowd. “Do you want the money to be used for artificial turf?”
It’s frustrating, Councilman Greg Gallo said, to still be talking about the referendum. If voters didn’t like the wording of the last referendum that was held in 2007 then they should have voted “no,” that’s the bottom line.
The town council doesn’t meet again until June 11, but will likely call a special meeting before the next regularly scheduled council meeting to discuss the issue.
