Schools
Hanover Park Gives Athletic Referendum 2nd Try
New referendum strips down wants, focuses on 'needs', board says.
The Hanover Park Regional High School District Board of Education and administration hope their second referendum will be more successful than the first.
The new referendum, which is up for public vote on Sept. 24, reduces athletic improvements from the all-encompassing project which failed in March to only the improvements which the district needs to keep the fields usable.
"We have now reached the point to make our facility playable for our students, we must invest a considerable amount of money," Superintendent Carol Grossi wrote in an open letter to the community.
The cost of the project has been reduced from $17,529,542 to $9.795,444. The actual cost to taxpayers will be over $1.1 million less than that, after including the interest ($1.7 million) and the debt service state aid which the district expects to receive back from the state ($2.8 million).
At Hanover Park High School, improvements to the fields under this new proposed project are:
- synthetic turf multi-sport field
- field drainage
- replacement of the track
- new rubberized D-zone
- addition of two lanes to the track straight-away
- new home bleachers
- scoreboards
- sound system
- press box
- fencing
- upgraded field lighting
- lacrosse goals and netting
- re-grade and seed the practice field
- new fenced dugouts at the JV softball field
- fabric dugout covers at the varsity softball field
- replace JV backstop, baseline fencing and spectator seating
- rebuild the existing tennis courts with an additional fifth court
- replace tennis court fencing
At Whippany Park high School, the project includes the following improvements:
- synthetic turf multi-sport field
- field drainage
- replacement of the track
- new rubberized D-zone
- addition of two lanes to the track straight-away
- new home bleachers
- scoreboards
- sound system
- press box
- fencing
- lacrosse goals and netting
- re-grade and seed the practice field
- re-grade and seed the lower hockey field
- new dugouts, replaced scoreboard, replaced backstop fencing and spectator seating at the varsity softball field
- rebuild baseball grass infield
- new surface coating and repair of tennis courts
- expand the entrance driveway at the student parking lot.
The tax impact of the project is less than half of what was originally proposed last year and voted on in March. East Hanover residents will see their taxes go up by $12.88 per $100,000 of assessed value for 10 years. For the average home valued at $360,792, that is an additional $46.45 per year in taxes.
In Florham Park, taxes will increase by $6.61 per $100,000 in assessed value. For the average home in Florham Park valued at $664,438, that's an increase of $43.91 in taxes each year for 10 years.
Hanover residents will see their taxes increase by $9.63 per $100,000 in assessed value. That's an average increase of $40.57, since the average home in Hanover Township is valued at $421,392.
Polls will be open from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24.
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