Field lights at Oakmont park get official recommendation; project still in holding pattern

A hurdle was crossed in the effort to add lights to Riverside Park in Oakmont.

Tony Lascola, chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee, made an official proposal to council to add lights to the sports fields at the park, where Riverview High School plays its home games. He asked council to approve the lights with a contingency that adequate grant money is secured for the project. He said doing so would help speed up the process.

The suggestion was met with varying reactions from council members, including Jennifer Paris, who was hesitant because council has been insistent that the borough would not be responsible for additional funding before approving the project.

Council member John Arnold said he saw nothing wrong with approving the lights on the condition that the needed grant funding is acquired before the project begins. Council President Nancy Ride said she’d be more comfortable considering the request after she sees official project costs and the necessary grant funds.

“If we were to get the information fairly quickly, say within the next 30 days, we would be able to then — my proposal would be that we could then go forward with giving you that commitment, pending all of these qualifications,” Ride said.

During his presentation, Lascola reviewed the details of public forums hosted in September and October. He said that during the September meeting, 17 residents spoke in favor of the lights and one spoke against them. The October meeting, he said, attracted a smaller crowd, with three speaking in favor of the lights and two against. Lascola said there was written correspondence both supporting and opposing the lights.

He said the main comments from people opposing the lights included increased traffic on Third Street near the park’s entrance, policing concerns and light spillage.

“If you’re looking at the dek hockey rink, those are not the lights that are going in,” Lascola said. “Some of those are angled pretty offensively toward some of the houses.”

Lascola said the four vendors being considered for the project have various maintenance programs that will help the borough mitigate costs. He said estimates for the project are also coming in lower than the initial estimate of $990,000.

“One of the main vendors we had preferred to use, we had them reevaluate their estimate, and we’re well under budget of the numbers that were presented to the public,” Lascola said. He did not disclose the specific figures because the recreation board is still receiving multiple estimates from multiple vendors.

The borough already has secured more than $400,000 in grants and donations to put toward the project. The project will have a more definitive start date depending on the results of a $750,000 state Commonwealth Financing Authority Local Share Award grant application. The grant is tied up in the state’s budget stalemate.

If all goes according to plan, installation would ideally begin next summer, Lascola said. Council members will continue to discuss the matter at future meetings.