Residents urge Essex County commissioners to pause Weekway park field renovation, citing lack of notice

Winifred Victor Hines, executive director of the Weequate Park Association, told the Essex County Board of County Commissioners during public comment that community members are demanding a pause to construction work at Weekway (variously transcribed in the record as Weekway/Weequay/Weequate) Park. Hines said she and other residents had expected a meeting to discuss a planned fourth baseball/softball field and that, despite repeated requests and a petition, they have not heard back from county officials. “I am sick and tired of coming here and having to tell you guys how to do your job,” Hines said, asking whether the same vendors have been repeatedly selected and whether minority- and people-of-color–owned firms are included in contracting.

County officials responded at the meeting that the project is a renovation to an existing field, not the creation of a new field, and that the county had…