Page 12 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • April 2, 2014 Midland Park Tournament decision hinges on starting time changes The Midland Park Baseball Association and the Memorial Day Committee are work- ing out a way so that the baseball group can hold a fundraising tournament Memorial Day weekend. Since the town traditionally observes Memorial Day on the Saturday preceding the holiday, and commemorative services are held at the Dairy Street memo- rial beginning at 9 a.m., town policy states the fields may not be used before 1 p.m. on that day. “We’re still in the discussion stage and trying to accommodate their needs and our needs – trying to accommodate the cer- emonies,” said baseball association Presi- dent Kyle Kuhnel. He said he is waiting to hear from the organizers of the 2014 Bergen County Charity Classic as to how late the start time for the games can be. “The tour- nament people are well aware we want to pay our respects to the veterans, and we’ve made it clear to them that if they don’t want to work with us, we’ll forget about their using our fields,” he added. The fields to be used would include Johnny Vander Meer Field, Veterans Field, Lower Veterans Field and Sunset, some of which are on the high school property. Depending on the needs of the tournament organizers, the town’s U8, U10 and U12 teams would potentially play on the local fields. Memorial Day Committee Chairman Lorraine DeLuca said her committee is (continued on page 22) Meeting to discuss reserve fund The Midland Park mayor and council have scheduled a special budget workshop meeting on Thursday, April 3 at 7 p.m. to discuss possible changes to be made to the proposed 2014 municipal budget. The public is welcome. Adoption of the budget, which was scheduled to take place last Thursday, was postponed because council members indi- cated they may wish to lower by $50,000 the amount to be placed into the capital reserve for the purchase of a new ladder truck for the volunteer fire department. The initial budget introduced by the council last month includes $150,000 in the reserve account for the truck’s purchase. The coun- cil has been systematically putting aside $50,000 a year for the eventual purchase, but decided to increase the amount when the fire department’s truck committee’s research determined the cost of replacing the 20-year-old vehicle would be substan- tially higher than anticipated. The council puts funds into a capital reserve account at the end of each budget year towards the future purchase of large ticket items so as to eliminate or greatly reduce the amount that has to be bonded to make the purchase. When the council discussed reduc- ing the reserve, council members said the reduction would save about $18 in taxes a year for the average borough home, result- ing in a proposed tax increase for municipal purposes only of $110 for 2014. Mayor Pat- rick “Bud” O’Hagan pointed out that any savings now due to the reduction would be offset by future finance charges, and that the change would have an impact on future cap restrictions. Long, dedicated service Midland Park firefighter Peter Jeffer displays the plaque he received recently commemorat- ing his 40 anniversary as a member of the Midland Park Volunteer Fire Department. Jeffer joined the department in 1974 and served five years as lieutenant and chaired the depart- ment’s Centennial celebration. He was fire company president for nine years as well as com- pany secretary. He currently serves as the department’s legal adviser and is its delegate to the Northwest Bergen Mutual Aid Association. A lifelong Midland Park resident, Jeffer is an attorney with offices in the borough.