Council Hits Pause on Wesley Bishop South Project

For the time being, the township is holding off on making improvements to , until the project can be done without inconveniencing the hundreds of kids and parents who participate in the sports played there.

—with those funds tentatively set to come out of the Open Space, Recreation, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund—but stalled when it came time to consider $405,000 worth of improvements for WB South (also to be paid for from the Trust Fund).

Pete Palko, commissioner of Moorestown Youth Flag Football, told council the project—which involves improvements to the field, parking lot and irrigation—

“I don’t know what I would do with the families that would possibly be affected by this,” he said.

After Palko’s plea to put the project on hold, Carew said he reached out to him, as well as representatives from the Moorestown Youth Softball Association, which shares the field with flag football, to discuss the timing of the project.

On Tuesday, council voted unanimously to place the project on hold and reject the bids.

“It was determined the construction of the South project could take place in the winter or summer window, without impacting either the fall or the spring seasons,” explained Carew.

He said when council decides to revisit the project, they’ll make sure to “time it in such a way that the construction would begin at either the immediate end of either the flag football season in the fall, or the softball season in the spring, and that you could get all the work complete and have it ready to go for the next season.”

Carew and Mayor John Button said comparing the South project to the North project is apples and oranges.

“(The Wesley Bishop North project) is going to take longer. It’s going to run over into the season no matter what,” said Button.

Carew elaborated, noting that the North project, which involves construction of an artificial turf field and various other improvements, is simply on a bigger scale and consequently will take longer to complete—about five to six months.

Palko had also told council, given the somewhat desperate state of the construction business, he didn't think rebidding the South project would lead to higher costs later. 

While Button didn’t go as far as agreeing with Palko’s assessment, he said, “He’s more informed than some. He’s in that business.”

The mayor said he fully anticipates council will revisit the Wesley Bishop South project in the future ().

“It’s still important,” he said. “It’s just a different thing.”