October 9, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 5 Wyckoff Russell Farms gets money for paths, trees by John Koster Wyckoff’s Russell Farms Park will soon benefit from another $20,000. Last week, the Wyckoff Township Com- mittee introduced an ordinance to accept that amount from the Bergen County Open Space Park Improvement Grant to fund a recreational trail, gravel parking area, and the pur- chase and planting of trees at the five-acre site at the corner of Russell and Sicomac avenues. The grant will include installation of electrical service on the on-site well pump house, the replacement of a fence along the property line adjacent to the Sicomac firehouse, and the installation of Belgian Block curbing along Rus- sell Avenue to alleviate a drainage washout at the park entrance. The county grant will also include the purchase of dog stations for leashed dog walking, a gazebo, and the installation of a park sign. Work by the Wyckoff Depart- ment of Public Works was noted as a factor in keeping costs relatively low. “The path is going well at Russell Farms,” Township Committeeman Brian Scanlan noted at last week’s work session. Committeeman Kevin Rooney, an arborist, said 20 new trees would be planted when the season was optimal. Plans call for 11 London plane trees, six red maples, and three October Glory trees on the berm. The opening of the park is anticipated later this year at a date to be announced. Smoking inside the park is forbidden, but will be per- mitted in cars and other vehicles in the parking lot. Township committee members also agreed to work Officials award $138,620 contract for Newtown Road improvements The Wyckoff Township Committee has awarded a $138,621 contract for the improvement of Newtown Road. A New Jersey Department of Transportation Trust Fund grant of $150,000 will fund this project. The successful bidder, New Prince Construction Com- pany, Inc. of Hackensack, is expected to start work some time next week. Completion is due before Thanksgiving. The grant came about through a statewide competi- tive grant program in which 660 grant applications were received and 337 grants were awarded. Newtown Road is a heavily traveled municipal road that connects two county roads: Cedar Hill Avenue and Wyckoff Avenue. The grant enabled Wyckoff to offer bid specifications, and four different contractors bid on the work, with bids ranging from $147,388 by a Clifton firm down through $146,099 from a Ringwood firm, $141,623 from a Nutley firm, and the accepted lowest bid from the Hackensack contractor. Boswell Engineering, the township’s consulting engi- neer, recommended that the lowest bid was responsible and should be accepted. Township Administrator Robert Shan- non and Township Attorney Rob Landel concurred. In prior years, the New Jersey Department of Trans- portation Trust Fund has provided funds for the paving of Crescent Avenue, Mountain Avenue, West Main Street, Grandview Avenue, Park Avenue, a portion of Main Street and Lawlins Road, and four grants for work on Monroe Avenue. J. KOSTER out a specific type of park bench that residents might be encouraged to donate, with the understanding that dedica- tion plaques would be acceptable from individuals but not from businesses. Russell Farms was a farm with an orchard and farm stand before the owners sold it to Barrister Construction. Plans for condominiums on the property were rejected and plans for five large single-family houses were put on hold due to the collapsed housing market and to contamination of the land by fertilizer and pesticides when the site was still a working orchard. Wyckoff purchased the five acres for $3.1 million in 2012, once the Department of Environmental Protection had signed off on the contamination relief, a matter of considerable concern to the township committee. The pur- chase price of the land came from a local set-aside and from $1,859,000 from the Bergen County Open Space fund. Rooney also told the committee that a pear tree at the Larkin House on Godwin Avenue was in the queue to be replaced. The tree, which was felled by Hurricane Sandy, had been dedicated to the late Charles Marcus, a World War II combat veteran and environmental volunteer.