by Robert Holt
BRIDGEPORT — At their meeting on March 17, the Logan Township Council tabled two requests for use of the community’s athletic fields from March to October. The move came because the majority of the players on the teams did not come from Logan Township, according to Deputy Mayor Bernadine Jackson.
Larry Meredith of the Kingsway Knights Baseball Travel Team submitted a request for one of the Logan Little League Senior baseball fields, and Logan Little League president Charles Kind requested an athletic field for SJ Warriors 11U baseball.
Kind indicated that Logan gets first call on the use of the fields.
“Logan residents are not shortchanged whatsoever by these requests,” he commented.
Solicitor Lyman Barnes mentioned that past practices were designed to benefit the residents of Logan Township. “I believe that past procedure had been to not allow use to teams without most of its players being from Logan,” Barnes recalled.
There are seven fields available for Little League use, and the community gets lots of requests for availability. Councilmember Chris Morris said he saw no conflicts between Kingsway and the Logan Little League.
Councilmember Stephen Dougherty pointed out that the playing areas were Logan Township fields, and did not belong to the leagues. “We have denied field use for various reasons before,” Dougherty explained. “We just want to be consistent in what we are doing.”
Mayor Frank Minor called for an agreement on a schedule for both teams to avoid any conflicts between the organizations, and said more discussions need to take place on the matter. Solicitor Brian Duffield wants to see defined schedules for the two teams.
In resolutions, the Council passed the renewal of the Bridgeport Speedway’s racing license for 2015. They also approved payment to ThinkPavers of $31,150.62 for the Logan Library recreation site improvements.
Also, the Council appointed Charles Fiore as Special Counsel regarding their shared services agreement with Wenonah for trash collection. And they approved payment of $6,650.07 to Bogey’s Trucking and Paving for the New Jersey Department of Transportation Trust Fund reconstruction of Beckett Road.
Elsewhere, Jackson read a letter from Joint Insurance Fund Executive Director Paul Miola announcing the award of $2,925 to the community for outstanding performance in their Safety Incentive Program.
In Public Works, Superintendent Mike Riley reported that his department had put in about nine tons of patch on community potholes, and has taken down the snow fence. He said Public Works would keep an eye on potholes on Heron Drive and Commerce Drive.
Logan Fire Chief Scott Oatman noted that the Township Fire Department had received an improved ISO evaluation, dropping from a score of five to a four. That would make the insurance rates fall, according to Oatman.
Barnes pointed out that a lower ISO score is better, and relocation of equipment had no effect on the improvement.
And in his police report, Capt. Robert Leash listed 1,163 calls for service, 21 arrests, 209 motor vehicle summonses, and 16 accidents. Leash noted that on February 26, Ptl. Joe Tropea, Ptl. Bill Franklin, and Ptl. Andy Keleshian presented a bicycle safety program to Center Square students.
Minor informed Leash that tractor-trailers had been abusing parking on Center Square Road, and the captain said he would revisit the issue.
