It seems like the De Hart Field renovation can't be done easily. After
voters blocked the initial plan last fall to replace the field with
artificial turf, Township Committee members agreed on a grass field approach
this year.

With most of the funding for the $2 million project expected to come from
various grants and the township Open Space Fund, TC members were set to
authorize township officials to go out to bid on the entire project Tuesday
night.

But one new wrinkle came up. State Department of Environmental Protection
officials, who are expected to provide some $1 million in state "Green
Acres" funding, want to test the soil on the field for possible
contamination.

TC members were told Tuesday that the field had once been the site of an
agricultural operation decades ago, which included greenhouses that might
have contributed to lead or other contaminants.

DEP officials took soil samples and the results are expected by next week.
"You can't do anything about it," Mayor Vic De Luca said. Asked if he
believes it will severely delay or halt the project, TC member Fred Profeta
said, "We don't know. If it is found, we will have to remediate it."

The TC did go forward to authorize the project to go out to bid as one large
contract, voting 3-1. Profeta, who has opposed an all-in-one approach, voted
no, while Vice Mayor Kathy Leventhal was absent.

TC members also cut about $70,000 worth of the project to bring the entire
cost to just under $2 million, De Luca said. "There is not much you can
cut," he said, noting the elements that were removed were minor.

As it stands, the project would include two overlapping soccer fields and a
baseball field, along with new lighting and other infrastructure.