Councilman Al Granell (top) is pushing for the borough to put u p the local match for a Green Acres grant to knock down a commercial building at
155 River Road to create more parking for Little League. Meanwh ile, the borough plans to take down a utility building (above) to reconfigure space
between backstop and home plate.
NORTH ARLINGTON –
With help from the borough and state, the Joseph Mellino Memorial North Arlington Little League field on River Road will be getting a partial adjustment, but whether its perennial parking problem will be tackled is still a tough call.
Mayor Joseph Bianchi said the borough is committed to moving ahead with improvements to the field with the aid of a Bergen County Open Space grant of nearly $27,000 to be matched by an equal amount from the borough.
The borough plans to remove a utility building located behind the field’s backstop to reconfigure the field space behind home plate.
Consulting engineer Brian Intindola said only 8.6 feet separates the plate and the backstop. “That’s not really a lot of room for the catcher to play freely behind home,” he said.
Nor is it safe for a catcher, batter and umpire when batted balls ricochet off the metal backstop in that confined space, said the mayor, who played on the field when it was brand new some 60 years ago.
“You’d lose the downstairs bathroom – that’s the downside – but the breezeway and storage shed can be saved and we’d put a second window in the concession stand so you’d see both sides of the field,” Intindola said.
Shifting the backstop and fencing “will give you 20 feet behind the plate,” much closer to the “ideal” distance of 25 feet recommended by District Little League, he said.
Replacing the lost bathroom – used by the umpires, players and coaches – would cost “an additional $15,000 to $20,000” – an expense not covered by the county grant and local match, although it could possibly be fit in if the demolition is handled by Little League volunteers with the appropriate expertise, the engineer said.
With the reconfigured backstop and adjustments of outfield dimensions and foul line borders, the field will be “pristine when we’re done,” Bianchi said. That should happen by next spring, he added.
It is estimated that about 150 boys and girls, ages 8 to 12, participate in North Arlington Little League programs.
But whether the borough can find more parking for Little League parents and kids – who have to scramble to find spaces on nearby residential streets and then cross heavily- traveled River Road – is questionable.
Last month, the borough was awarded a state Green Acres grant of $362,500 that requires a local match to acquire and tear down a commercial property at 155 River Road, just north of the field, to create parking for an estimated 60 cars and a small park.
The borough would like to go ahead with the Green Acres project, said Bianchi, but it is unclear whether it can come up with the local match. Just how much is uncertain – it will likely depend on an appraisal of the commercial property – but in its Green Acres application, the borough listed “total project cost” as $1.45 million.
At the same time, the borough has applied for a “Blue Acres” grant – money that the state has made available elsewhere to buy properties that lie in a flood plain – for the purchase of two houses at 157 and 159 River Road that were flooded by Sandy and whose owners are looking to sell whose land the borough could use create more parking.
“I’d love to help those families out,” Bianchi said. “They’ve had those properties up for sale even before Sandy and they can’t give them away.”
However, the state has informed borough Administrator Stephen Lo Iacono that the two properties are not regarded as a big enough “cluster” of residences to qualify for funding so, as Lo Iacono put it, “the prospects are not good – it’s on life support.”
Bianchi said he’s still holding out hope of packaging the Green Acres funding with Blue Acres cash, “if the state will allow us.”
The state has advised the borough that such a scenario may be doable but only if the borough were “willing to enter into a management agreement with the state for those lots and the future use could not include any impervious coverage [such as a parking lot which is], a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) requirement.” Reportedly, the borough can get around that restriction by laying out a gravel lot for parking.
Councilman Al Granell said that on the strength of the borough governing body having endorsed the Green Acres application last year, North Arlington should raise the local match needed to make that project happen.
“The time to strike is now,” Granell said. “It’s a quality of life issue.”
