Matawan Regional field improvements a waste of money
Joseph Fenimore
Guest Column
The Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education is beginning a capital improvement project for the Matawan Regional High School which will cost the taxpayers $1.25 million. The "improvement" is an artificial turf football field and four light poles to be used for night games. For a board that is always crying poverty and always looking to raise the taxes, this seems to be a serious waste of money. As you already know Matawan taxes were raised almost 13¢ and Aberdeen taxes 15.4¢. This was after the original budget was voted down.
When asked at a recent town meeting why Matawan Regional High School needed a new field and lights no real answer was given. Something about keeping kids off drugs and giving the few parents that can't make a day game the ability to see their children play at night seemed reason enough to justify the cost. How does a football field with lights keep kids off drugs? I don't know either. This testimony was countered rather vehemently with real issues from real people who live in the surrounding neighborhood. Which I will list below:
1) Lack of parking and increased traffic- during home football games cars that cannot fit in the parking lot overflow onto Atlantic Avenue, the "D" section of Strathmore and surrounding streets. None of these streets are meant to be parked on because they are narrow. These streets are made even narrower by cars being left on them during games. Accidents will occur as drivers will have to share the same road while going in different directions. This problem will be compounded by the lack of light because the games will begin and end after dark. Children who use these streets to play and ride their bicycles will have to be confined to their homes or risk serious injury. The chief of police of Aberdeen voiced his concern about the same matter by writing a letter to the zoning board.
The Board of Ed's response - silence.
2) Noise pollution - a point was brought up by one town board member that there is a law that states that the maximum amount of decibels at the property line should not exceed 50db. What is 50db? It is equivalent to the volume of rainfall. Currently the Matawan marching band and the PA system used for the games both exceed these recommendations as both can be clearly heard nearly a mile away. During the summer the community around the school is inundated with pounding drums five to six days a week, five to six hours per evening ending as late as 11 p.m. Mind you that some people's bedrooms are only 100 or so yards away from these drums. This isn't an inconvenience. This is torture. Now with lights these practices can continue as late as they want for as long as they want.
The Board of Ed's response - expect a couple of nighttime band competitions this year also.
3) Light pollution - the Board of Ed hired an engineer with lots of degrees and plenty of credentials. He put on a dog and pony show about "foot candles" of light and angles at which the lights will be pointed and how there shouldn't be any intrusion into anyone's house on Atlantic Avenue greater than a moonbeam. Wow, I was impressed. When asked how the lights will affect the D section which resides directly behind the football field the man was flabbergasted because he didn't even know there was a D section. Talk about doing your homework. The bottom line is when I walk into my backyard I don't want to see a 50 foot light pole with 13 lights on it no matter which way they are pointed.
The Board of Ed's response - silence.
4) Misuse of funds - currently Aberdeen/Matawan only offers preK to families of four who do not gross over $30,000 a year. Most of the people who pay $8,000 or better in taxes need to make a little more than that. In other words most everyone is paying thousands for preK every year. Wouldn't this money serve us better if it were used to expand the preK program?
The Board of Ed's response - silence.
During the late spring and early fall months of the year the schools tend to get a little stuffy. So much so that teachers have shut the lights in the classrooms to try to minimize the heat in the classrooms. Even with that Herculean effort some kids start to feel faint and are sent to the nurse's office and some of those children are eventually sent home. I know this to be true because last year my son was one of them. $1.25 million might buy an AC or two.
The Board of Ed's response - silence.
5) Health of the athlete - one reason the Board of Ed wants a new field is that it will help the school's athletics department. According to the superintendent student morale would be greatly enhanced because of artificial turf and lights. Scores of teenagers will come running to watch and participate in sports under the lights. I just hope the Board of Ed's insurance is paid up. Artificial turf has been responsible for ending more than a few promising careers. NFL players Jamal Anderson, Vinny Testeverde, Leslie Sheppard, Troy Aikman, and others have had there careers cut short due to concussions or ligament damage directly associated with artificial turf. The first three people listed weren't even touched when they went down. Giants stadium - in an effort to keep their players healthy - actually removed the turf for a year but had to replace it because the grass couldn't survive the pounding it was taking.
This story is not anti-children, anti-sports or anti-improvement. This is about priorities and putting them in the proper order. The Board of Education operates without regard to the taxpayer or the community because they can. Taxes continue to rise at an alarming rate because of the waste and mismanagement of the Board of Education. Every year they continue to ask for more and more and even when the budget is voted down they still get a good portion of what they asked for. This needs to stop now.
By the way, the lights were defeated by a vote of the Aberdeen Planning Board. Unfortunately they have no jurisdiction.
Joseph Fenimore is a resident of Aberdeen
Joseph Fenimore
Guest Column
The Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education is beginning a capital improvement project for the Matawan Regional High School which will cost the taxpayers $1.25 million. The "improvement" is an artificial turf football field and four light poles to be used for night games. For a board that is always crying poverty and always looking to raise the taxes, this seems to be a serious waste of money. As you already know Matawan taxes were raised almost 13¢ and Aberdeen taxes 15.4¢. This was after the original budget was voted down.
When asked at a recent town meeting why Matawan Regional High School needed a new field and lights no real answer was given. Something about keeping kids off drugs and giving the few parents that can't make a day game the ability to see their children play at night seemed reason enough to justify the cost. How does a football field with lights keep kids off drugs? I don't know either. This testimony was countered rather vehemently with real issues from real people who live in the surrounding neighborhood. Which I will list below:
1) Lack of parking and increased traffic- during home football games cars that cannot fit in the parking lot overflow onto Atlantic Avenue, the "D" section of Strathmore and surrounding streets. None of these streets are meant to be parked on because they are narrow. These streets are made even narrower by cars being left on them during games. Accidents will occur as drivers will have to share the same road while going in different directions. This problem will be compounded by the lack of light because the games will begin and end after dark. Children who use these streets to play and ride their bicycles will have to be confined to their homes or risk serious injury. The chief of police of Aberdeen voiced his concern about the same matter by writing a letter to the zoning board.
The Board of Ed's response - silence.
2) Noise pollution - a point was brought up by one town board member that there is a law that states that the maximum amount of decibels at the property line should not exceed 50db. What is 50db? It is equivalent to the volume of rainfall. Currently the Matawan marching band and the PA system used for the games both exceed these recommendations as both can be clearly heard nearly a mile away. During the summer the community around the school is inundated with pounding drums five to six days a week, five to six hours per evening ending as late as 11 p.m. Mind you that some people's bedrooms are only 100 or so yards away from these drums. This isn't an inconvenience. This is torture. Now with lights these practices can continue as late as they want for as long as they want.
The Board of Ed's response - expect a couple of nighttime band competitions this year also.
3) Light pollution - the Board of Ed hired an engineer with lots of degrees and plenty of credentials. He put on a dog and pony show about "foot candles" of light and angles at which the lights will be pointed and how there shouldn't be any intrusion into anyone's house on Atlantic Avenue greater than a moonbeam. Wow, I was impressed. When asked how the lights will affect the D section which resides directly behind the football field the man was flabbergasted because he didn't even know there was a D section. Talk about doing your homework. The bottom line is when I walk into my backyard I don't want to see a 50 foot light pole with 13 lights on it no matter which way they are pointed.
The Board of Ed's response - silence.
4) Misuse of funds - currently Aberdeen/Matawan only offers preK to families of four who do not gross over $30,000 a year. Most of the people who pay $8,000 or better in taxes need to make a little more than that. In other words most everyone is paying thousands for preK every year. Wouldn't this money serve us better if it were used to expand the preK program?
The Board of Ed's response - silence.
During the late spring and early fall months of the year the schools tend to get a little stuffy. So much so that teachers have shut the lights in the classrooms to try to minimize the heat in the classrooms. Even with that Herculean effort some kids start to feel faint and are sent to the nurse's office and some of those children are eventually sent home. I know this to be true because last year my son was one of them. $1.25 million might buy an AC or two.
The Board of Ed's response - silence.
5) Health of the athlete - one reason the Board of Ed wants a new field is that it will help the school's athletics department. According to the superintendent student morale would be greatly enhanced because of artificial turf and lights. Scores of teenagers will come running to watch and participate in sports under the lights. I just hope the Board of Ed's insurance is paid up. Artificial turf has been responsible for ending more than a few promising careers. NFL players Jamal Anderson, Vinny Testeverde, Leslie Sheppard, Troy Aikman, and others have had there careers cut short due to concussions or ligament damage directly associated with artificial turf. The first three people listed weren't even touched when they went down. Giants stadium - in an effort to keep their players healthy - actually removed the turf for a year but had to replace it because the grass couldn't survive the pounding it was taking.
This story is not anti-children, anti-sports or anti-improvement. This is about priorities and putting them in the proper order. The Board of Education operates without regard to the taxpayer or the community because they can. Taxes continue to rise at an alarming rate because of the waste and mismanagement of the Board of Education. Every year they continue to ask for more and more and even when the budget is voted down they still get a good portion of what they asked for. This needs to stop now.
By the way, the lights were defeated by a vote of the Aberdeen Planning Board. Unfortunately they have no jurisdiction.
Joseph Fenimore is a resident of Aberdeen
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