Waldwick October 3, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 3 The Waldwick Board of Education is grappling with ways to control the use of school-owned fields and is poised to ask the borough to hire a recreation director to manage their use. Most recreational teams in town have to use school fields because Borough Park is the only town-owned facility. The issues are complex, according to board of education President Patty Levine. One relates to maintenance. Levine said that efforts to have recreational teams pay $10 per player to go towards field main- Board of education seeks way to control field use tenance have met with outright refusal by some teams and disregard by others. She said a survey of other area towns showed that many share the maintenance responsibility between the schools and the teams or the town, but most do not charge. But Levine said denying field use to teams that don’t collect the fee would not sit well with residents. “Can you imagine the backlash if we say to athletes: ‘You can’t use the field if you don’t want to pay?’” she said. “We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.” Another issue relates to formulating policies for the use of the fields, including authorization to play and scheduling. School Business Administrator John Griffin said some groups fill out the required forms, provide proof of insurance and get approval. “There are two men’s teams; one has approval, the other does not,” Griffin said. He said it is “tremendously time consuming” to follow up on field use requests, sorting out insurance coverage and trying to make contact with the right person. This is where a recreation director would help, according to trustees. The director would schedule the fields so the appropriate teams get priority and there is no overlap. The person could check insurance and proper coach accreditation and deny permission if all criteria is not met. “The recreation director would make sure the groups on the fields are authorized,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patricia Raupers. “They (the teams) would have to be responsible and follow procedures, and clean after themselves. With rights come responsibilities,” she added. And then there is enforcement. “A group could be denied and show up and use the field and we would not know Ozzie Carlson, director of golf programs at Greenhouse Golf in Waldwick and a Record columnist, will speak about “Using Golf as a Business Tool” at the multichamber networking meeting sponsored by the Waldwick Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, Oct. 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. Hosted by chamber member Greenhouse Golf at its state-of-the-art facility at 140 Hopper Avenue, the event will also feature a talk by Greenhouse Golf’s President and CEO Rich DiMartino, who will discuss “The Critical Elements of Business Development Success.” A software entrepreneur, DiMartino has 27 years of experience in sales and corporate business Guest speaker to focus on golf as a business tool development with Hewlett Packard. Golf training technology demonstrations will also be part of the program, and attendees will be invited to participate. The fee for members of any of the participating chambers of commerce who register by Oct. 4 is $20. Chamber members who pay at the door will be charged $25. The cost for non-chamber members is $30. The event will also include light fare, a business card exchange, and prizes. RSVP to Kim Manziano at kmanziano@optonline. net. For more information, call at Nancy (201) 847-9177. it. There is no enforcement mechanism. Do we want to invest in security?” asked Dr. Raupers. “It’s become, ‘You don’t have to get permission,’” said Griffin. “The team that has no permission needs to be removed,” said trustee Dawn Monaco. “They are trespassing on school property. If there was an ordinance, we could call police.” Monaco also brought up the issue of responsible use of the school track or the turf field and who is charged with their proper upkeep. She said people often use the track improperly, and when they are asked to cease and desist, they respond rudely and refuse to follow direction. And she said items or trash are left on the field and the school maintenance staff has to clean it. She suggested a letter be sent to the associations using the fields asking for their cooperation. Also a problem, according to Griffin, are organizations that erect signs on the school field’s fence on Franklin Avenue without authorization. He said a policy is needed on that as well, but again, “the key is enforcement,” he said. (continued on page 6)