Upper Questions Public Works’ Priorities Due to Amanda’s Field Observations

PETERSBURG – Upper Township Committee held its regular meeting Oct. 13 and celebrated Atlantic Shore baseball team for winning the Babe Ruth World Series championship. Several key players recognized during the series for their outstanding play are from the township.
Fields Not Ready for Spring Play
A major portion of the meeting was taken up by the observations of Committee member Hobart Young regarding the status of work to be done at Amanda’s Field to get various playing fields ready for the spring season. Summarizing Young’s comments, he noted that although he spent hours with public works staff to review with them the work that needed to be done in order of priority, his recommendations based on 45 years of contractor and project management experience were ignored. For example, public works painted the snack bar which will not be used for months and took out some dead trees in an area that has yet to be cleared for any purpose, while completely missing “windows of opportunity” to effectively seed the fields and set posts so fields could be graded.
“I’m really upset, and very frustrated, I can’t believe that when I visited Amanda’s Field none of the work that we had discussed on many occasions had been done,” said Young, addressing committee. “These were priorities because we needed to seed the fields by Sept. 15 and now it’s mid-October. I’ve had four complaining phone calls just this week on what’s going on out there, we’re wasting taxpayer money and losing time and I’m really angry that my recommendations were blown off.”
“You have every right to be frustrated, I’m frustrated too, and tomorrow I’m meeting with public works to see how things could go so wrong, and what to do now,” said Township Engineer Paul Dietrich. “This is not a question of bad results related to us being short-handed, it’s a personnel issue.”
School, Township Share Services
Business Administrator Laurie Ryan, of the township’s school district made a presentation to update committee on summer maintenance projects at school facilities which have been supported by the township’s engineer and public works personnel.
“These are projects that we could not do on our own, we have saved a lot of money and we really appreciate township’s help in getting them done, and hopefully we can continue to rely on your support for next year,” said Ryan.
According to her presentation, projects which were finished this past summer include installation of a new French drain to ameliorate flooding in the hall of first grade, repavement of the bus lane and parking lot, new tiling in the bathrooms, and an outside courtyard for students to congregate and eat lunch for which the school provided the materials and the township provided the labor. Past projects, per Ryan, accomplished with township support include new rubber flooring for the music room, a new playground, improved bathroom paneling and installation of electronic signs “which really saved us a huge sum since getting an outside electrician would have been exorbitant,” said Ryan.
Mayor Richard Palombo stated his support for these shared services, noting that school staff help to clean the township’s senior center and so “arrangement works for the benefit of all and we’ll do everything we can to continue to facilitate it.”
Last Month for Brush Collection
Dietrich brought to the attention of committee that October is the last month that public works trucks will be circulating throughout the township to pick up brush.
“There’s a lot of debris from this past storm but we won’t be coming by again until January,” explained Dietrich. “For any removal of damaged trees on township property residents can call to schedule an appointment for an inspection.”
“We want residents to take into account the size of their piles since brush that is piled high and in huge piles is a public safety hazard and also requires additional man hours and therefore expense to pick up,” added Deputy Mayor Ed Barr.
Dietrich Commended for Flood Safety Work
Committee member John Coggins said he wanted to share a citation regarding Dietrich’s outstanding work as a flood plain public official given by the relevant Flood Plain Association.
“Paul’s effective management and reducing flood plain hazards is much appreciated, especially by those living in these areas since it also means their insurance rates are reduced,” said Coggins. 
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.