Middle Awards $1-million Contract For Wisting Recreational Complex

COURT HOUSE – It may have rained on Middle Township’s Memorial Day festivities, but this year’s Memorial Day essay winners were celebrated at the June 6 Township Committee work session.  
Eva Demetroth, first place, Brianna Buck, second place, and Hannah Price, third place, read their winning essays at the meeting with friends and family in attendance.
Mayor Michael Clark presented each winner with a proclamation honoring their hard work.
Each winner had authored a short essay on the theme “What Memorial Day Means to Me.” Rather than celebrate the accouterments of the holiday with the tendency to focus on the start of summer, the essays skipped the barbecues, parades, and beaches, focusing instead on the true reason for the holiday, a means of honoring those who have given their all to protect the nation’s freedoms.
As first-place winner Demetroth phrased it, the day was about the “heart, faith, hope and bravery” exhibited by those who served. Each in their way, the essays all thanked veterans as “American heroes.”
Ockie Wisting
The highlight of the formal business portion was the passage of a resolution that awarded a $1-million contract for the Ockie Wisting Recreational Complex improvements in Rio Grande. The winning bid was from MJJ Construction.
With this action, the township moved closer to realizing its goals for the recreational area. As Committee member Timothy Donohue noted, the planning for the facility has been underway since 2012.
“This is a big day for us,” Donohue said. Clark and Donohue pointed to the bid award as a major step in adding recreational areas the township sorely needs.
Donohue acknowledged that the final agreement with Cape Express Soccer Club was not yet complete, but he said: “We are almost there.”
Other Business
The committee took the time to highlight the opening of the police substation in Rio Grande. “Doing this in five months was a big achievement,” Donohue said.
Clark pointed out the many uses for the substation including as a safe zone for the exchange of merchandise obtained through online transactions on sites like Craigslist.
Clark predicted that the substation would produce “rewards no one can yet foresee.”
Clark also informed the public that the county is pushing to have the township bike path connect north to Dennis Township. “They are even offering to cover 50 percent of the engineering costs,” said Clark. “Something they never do.” The county is looking to utilize open space areas to facilitate the project, Clark said.
Committee member Jeffrey DeVico reminded the public that the township had funding for new street lighting. He urged the public to advance suggestions for how and where the lighting could be best used.
With the start of the hot summer season, Donohue pointed to a project by the Animal Advisory Board, which has resulted in signs that will be placed at major shopping areas reminding shoppers not to leave pets in hot cars. Close by, similar signs will also serve as reminders that children also cannot be left in cars.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.