News

April 11, 2008

Kingston Twp. OKs compromise for field

Football group and soccer group will share use of the field. Future solutions sought.

Camille Fioti Times Leader Correspondent

KINGSTON TWP. – Officials voted Wednesday to approve a compromise between two Back Mountain athletic associations to use the field at Center Street Park.

At the February meeting, an agenda item to approve a request to allow members of the Kingston Township Raiders Football Association to use the field was tabled.

Parents, children and coaches representing the Back Mountain Soccer Association protested the request at that meeting. An equally large number of Raiders supporters also attended the meeting to fight for field space.

The compromise would allow the Raiders to use the field Monday through Thursday, and the Soccer Association to use it Friday through Sunday.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Dave Brodhead stressed the urgency of finding available land for recreation purposes. He asked Township Manager Kelly Biddle-Cook to look into the township’s land development ordinances to check for requirements of developers to set aside a section of land for recreation.

Supervisor Jeff Box agreed there aren’t enough recreation areas and stressed the need to plan for the future. “If we don’t try to look ahead to make something available, all the land is going to be acquired,” he said.

In other business:

• Mark Albrecht of the Anthracite Scenic Trails Association announced that work on several sections of the Back Mountain Trail would begin soon. At next month’s meeting, he will make a formal presentation detailing the project, which is being funded by at $800,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

• The board approved a piping and catch basin project in the amount of $10,193 for the following streets: School Street, Lehigh Street, Alfred Road, Timothy Road and Meadowcrest Drive. General Fund money will be used for the project.

• The board also voted to appoint Charles E. Stevers as the township representative to the Dallas Area Municipal Authority Board of Directors. Stevers will fulfill the unexpired term of R. Spencer Martin Jr., whose term of office for five years commenced on Jan. 1. Martin, who died last week, was the founder of DAMA, Chairman Brodhead said.

“It is a tremendous loss for the township and DAMA,” Brodhead said.

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