Teaneck—The Teaneck Town Council has finally decided to get residents out of the mud, and approved $2.8 mil to upgrade the playing fields at Votee Park with good drainage and artifical turf. Two soccer fields, which do double duty as football fields, will get the artificial turf and a new drainage system to overcome the fields’ frequent flooding. Also included in the upgrade, for additional fees to other contractors, are bleachers, field lights, scoreboards and a press box that “can be used by coaches to oversee play on multiple fields.” Part of the project is funded by NJ’s Green Acres Program, the county’s Open Space Trust Fund and  Teaneck’s Open Space Trust Fund. The plans for the fields were in place in 2011, but were derailed when contaminated soil was found at the park. A remediation plan was recently approved by the state.

Adam Gussen, Teaneck’s Deputy Mayor, said the work was “long overdue,” and recalled the days when he had to wallow in the mud to play football. “I don’t think there’s anyone who thinks it’s a suitable facility for our children,” he said. “This is not a gilded lily. This is not some fancy bell and whistle that is just for self-aggrandizement. This is the type of project, in whole, that Teaneck deserves: its kids, its coaches, its leagues, and the town as a whole.”