FREEHOLD – Residents and business owners in Freehold Borough have selected two projects to receive municipal funding through the town’s second participatory budgeting initiative.
Of the 11 potential projects that could have been funded with $200,000 from the 2018 municipal budget, the projects selected by voters were placing lights at a Little League baseball field and completing roof and deck repairs at the borough’s firehouse.
Voting began on Nov. 26 and concluded on Dec. 2. Residents age 14 and older and business owners were allowed to select up to two projects they wanted to receive funding.
The winning projects were announced by Councilman Ron Griffiths and Councilman Kevin Kane during a Borough Council meeting on Dec. 3.
The project to add lights at a Little League baseball field received 225 votes. The project was presented by resident Robert Sive, who said a lighted field would allow weekday games to be played in the evening and make Freehold Borough consistent with play in other towns. The estimated cost of the project is $160,000.
Little League President Ian Bartuck thanked the council and voters, saying, “The kids thank you and the parents thank you. This is going to be a great thing for the league.”
The proposed roof and deck repairs at the firehouse received 130 votes. Craig Nimick, who presented the project, said the flat roof at the rear of the firehouse is leaking and needs to be repaired and he said the deck leading to the fire escape needs to be replaced.
Nimick said the repairs are necessary to prevent water damage and would be for public safety. The estimated cost of the project is $35,000.
The firehouse repairs actually placed third in the voting, behind a sidewalk repair program presented by resident Nick Palumbo. However, the sidewalk program was estimated to cost $50,000 and combined with the baseball field lighting, the two projects would have exceeded the $200,000 budget, officials said.
The proposed sidewalk repair program was intended to be a continuation of a previous sidewalk repair program that placed first in the 2017 participatory budgeting project. Palumbo said not all of the borough’s sidewalk issues have been addressed.
As a result of the support the sidewalk repair program received from voters in 2017 and 2018, Griffiths said council members would consider allocating $50,000 annually in the municipal budget for sidewalk repairs.
