The plan includes replacing the soccer field with artificial turf, adding LED lighting and scoreboards, and improving drainage.
BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Major improvements are coming to the soccer and baseball fields at Ridge High School that address “extreme drainage problems.”
The school district presented its plan to the Planning Board on Sept. 16 to ensure it is consistent with the Township Master Plan.
Heather Goldstein, the district’s attorney, said the plan includes replacing the soccer field with artificial turf adding LED lights, as well as providing improvements to the baseball field at the high school.
New bleachers will also be installed along with goal posts and scoreboards.
To address drainage, there is a proposed concrete curbing and retaining wall around the soccer field.
“A major component of the project is the integration of an artificial turf field as part of stormwater management improvements,” said Goldstein. “The design includes a stormwater detention basin to mitigate runoff and protect surrounding areas, which would ensure compliance with environmental standards while supporting the sustainability of the upgraded facilities.”
Engineer for the district Jeffrey Morris noted that currently, “there is an extremely, a lot of drainage problems with all the fields.”
The majority of that drainage emanates from the high school’s main campus and the football field.
“A lot of the main campus drains down in this direction towards the town’s facilities and the dogwalk park and softball field down there,” said Morris.
The drainage issues are so bad at the soccer fields that the fields are too soft and unplayable for usually half the season, said Morris.
To address this, the district is proposing to put an artificial turf on the soccer field with a water storage facility under the turf to collect water runoff.
“We’re putting artificial turf, storing it underneath and discharging it over to a detention pond, which we are going to create next to the batting cages and where the basketball court is right now,” said Morris.
That detention pond will hold the runoff from the baseball field, the soccer field, and the rear of the softball field. It will then discharge it into the existing swale, which the district will reinforce, which then flows into drainage facilities on South Maple Avenue.
The new artificial turf field will serve multiple sports, including junior varsity football, soccer, and field hockey. The field will be striped for all of those events.
Four 85-foot-high LED lights are also proposed which will point down at the field.
Some Planning Board members asked about light spillage to neighboring homes. However, Morris said they are “LED lights. Not flood lights that are very focused just on the field.”
“With the new digital LED lights, there is zero spillage. Once you are 10 feet off the field, you will need a flashlight,” said Morris.
School Business Administrator James Rollo said Superintendent Nick Markarian also sent a letter to residents on Peachtree Road about the project.
Only two residents reached out and inquired about a PA system, but Rollo said there wouldn’t be a PA system. However, there were no concerns about the lights.