By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
MILLSTONE – Municipal officials are moving forward with the financing for a new 186-acre recreation facility on Red Valley Road.
On Nov. 2, the Township Committee adopted a bond ordinance providing an appropriation of $4.5 million for the first phase of improvements at Millstone Park and authorizing the issuance of $3.3 million in bonds or notes to finance part of the appropriation.
Plans for the park date back to 2008 when municipal officials purchased property on Red Valley Road with the intention of creating a new recreation facility.
After the bond ordinance was introduced on Oct. 19, the committee members passed a resolution amending the 2016 capital budget to include the first phase of improvements to Millstone Park.
Officials said the first phase of the park’s development will involve site work and grading, the construction of a park building and the installation of lighting on three general purpose fields.
Mayor Bob Kinsey has said Millstone Park will have nine general purpose fields which can be used by any sports program. He said that eventually, six fields at the park will have lights.
The planned infrastructure work on the lighting of the first three fields will eventually allow lighting to be installed on the three adjacent fields without destroying the surface of the fields, the mayor said.
The park building will have restrooms and a kitchen serving facility, but no stoves, according to a plan that was discussed earlier this year. Cooking will be provided by a portable food cart which will be placed adjacent to the building as needed.
Kinsey said using a food cart means officials do not have to file a treatment works application with the state Department of Environmental Protection for the park’s septic system.
Other features at Millstone Park are expected to include a trail that can be used for walking, jogging and horse riding, and a boat-accessible pond that can be used for fishing and irrigation, according to Kinsey.
At present, the only location that is accessible to boats in Millstone Township is Perrineville Lake on Sweetmans Lane.
Kinsey said officials anticipate that bids for the project will be awarded at the committee’s meeting on Dec. 7.
Kinsey, Deputy Mayor Michael Kuczinski and committeemen Gary Dorfman and Fiore Masci voted to adopt the bond ordinance. Committeewoman Nancy Grbelja was absent.
Resident Amish Patel asked when Millstone Park is expected to be completed. Kinsey said he hopes the park will be functional by the end of 2017 and fully operational by the spring of 2018.
In other business, Kinsey made new appointments to the Planning Board following the resignation of regular member David Kurzman, who moved out of town. Jeffrey Ziner, the board’s first alternate, was appointed to fill the remainder of Kurzman’s term.
Edward Kocur, the board’s second alternate, was appointed first alternate, and Stacie Curtis was appointed second alternate.
