Pompton Lakes council approves $150,000 in open‑space funds for Willow Field improvements

The Pompton Lakes Mayor and Council voted to allocate $150,000 from the borough's open‑space trust to the Willow Field improvements project during the Jan. 8 meeting.

The funding item drew a public comment from Joe Kleinott, identified as president of the Pompton Lakes Riverdale Little League, who said the overall project is about $1 million and that the borough has already used about $100,000 of local money. Kleinott told the council that $550,000 in county funds are tied to the project and warned those grant dollars could be lost if the council delayed action: “If we don't vote on this or get this approved tonight, we will lose that money,” he said on the record.

The allocation approved by the council is limited to the open‑space portion; council members and staff clarified the vote did not approve the full project or construction contracts. Borough staff said the council would vote separately to adopt a bond ordinance and award construction contracts after engineering, bidding and other procurement steps are complete. The administrator explained the county requires evidence of movement on the project — for example contracting or design work — rather than a literal shovel in the ground, to maintain eligibility for the county funds.

Kleinott urged the council to move forward quickly on behalf of youth players who use the fields; he told the council the Little League serves roughly 400 children and described safety issues with the current field locations. Council members who asked questions were told a revised cost estimate had been received by staff the day before the meeting and that the timeline for construction depends on the bidding and procurement schedule.

The council's approval of the $150,000 from open‑space funds was presented as two agenda resolutions (listed in the packet as 25‑41 and 25‑42), and the motions passed on voice vote at the meeting. Council members said further formal actions on the project's total budget, contract awards and any bond ordinance would come back before the governing body at subsequent meetings.

The vote and staff comments followed a longer discussion on the redevelopment item elsewhere on the agenda, in which developers and the borough reiterated that multiple approvals (county, DEP, planning board, borough) are still required before construction could begin.

With the open‑space allocation approved, staff said the next procedural steps are (1) introduce and adopt any needed bond ordinance to fund the borough's share; (2) finalize bid documents with the borough engineer; and (3) go to public bid. Bids must be advertised for the statutorily required period before a formal award can be made, staff added. The administrator said the borough expected that, if those steps proceed on a normal timetable, construction could begin later in 2025.