Sussex to decide Brookside Park renovations on Nov. 5

The Sussex Borough Council decided to take until its next meeting on Nov. 5 to decide whether to accept a $100,000 loan to renovate the ballfields at Brookside Park.

At the borough’s Oct. 20 meeting, Councilman Charles Fronheiser Jr. objected to borrowing for that while other work needs to be done. He said he believed the council stated it wasn’t going to borrow money to renovate the fields.

He said the sidewalks in Sussex Borough are in “total disarray,” the Borough Hall parking lot needs to be repaved, and new roofs are needed, among other projects. “I can’t see putting $100,000 for a ball field when our sidewalks on Main Street can’t be traversed,” Fronheiser said.

Councilman Mario Poggi said he believes the $100,000 loan is only for Brookside Park.

“I don’t think we can use that money for Main Street,” he said.

Steve Welsh, director of Bruno Associates, which handles the borough’s grants, said the question is whether the borough takes out a loan to pay for the improvements to Brookside Park or pay for it with the loan.

“If you reject it, you won’t have a great chance to get another as you’ve had it and didn’t use it,” Welsh said.

He also said Green Acres will not hold the loan approval open indefinitely and stressed a need for borough officials to make a decision soon.

“If we’re going to borrow this $100,000 between now and the next meeting, I want to know where it’s going and how it’s going to be spent,” Council Vice President Robert Holowach said.