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SAVE OUR FIELDS

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 Three floods in one month have the borough's three biggest sports organizations scrambling.
Much damage occurred to Joe Grill Field, which is shared by the soccer and Little League teams, and at Carlough Field, which is used for football. After the floodwater from the March 12 nor'easter subsided, families went out and began fixing Joe Grill Field only to see it underwater again the following week. The field flooded the third time on March 29.
After this latest storm cleared on March 31, water settled on Joe Grill Field for several days before receding.
Councilman Mike Serra, who is president of the Pompton Lakes Riverdale Soccer Association (PLRSA), and Andres Ferreira, president of the Pompton Lakes Riverdale Little League (PLRLL), are unsure of how this situation will be addressed in the coming weeks.
Serra said that flowing currents caused major damage to the field that the two organizations cannot repair without financial assistance.
"We lost most of our fencing and most of our clay, and two of our largest baseball fields were destroyed. The senior field at Joe Grill is completely gone and there is a 4-foot hole off of third base. We lost a container we kept all our equipment in. It fell into a 10-by-30 hole," said Serra.
Serra said he will ask neighboring towns and the school district if PLRSA can use their fields.
Time is almost running out as the Little League season begins April 10.
"Our toilets got damaged. Our refrigerator in the snack stand was damaged. The oven, cabinets, everything was damaged in there. So, we are trying to get everything up and running. We are going to have a very short window. We are going to have maybe a week to get all of this together with everyone's help in town," said Ferreira.
The Willow Field soccer complex is behind Joe Grill. Serra explained that although it also flooded, the water just sat there, which did not create much damage.
Carlough Field, which has one large and two small football fields, was also badly damaged. The Pompton Lakes Riverdale Youth Organization (PLRYO) sustained damage to its property as well. PLRYO's football season does not begin until July, so it has time to make repairs, said President Carol Gossiker.
"We lost a lot of things within the field house itself and the parking lot needs to be re-graded. We are probably going to have to re-grade some or part of the field and the practice field.
"We had appliances that were lost and pieces of equipment that we use to maintain the field. So, it definitely has been a frustrating two weeks," said Gossiker.
All of these fields are located in a floodplain, so this occurrence is nothing new.
This time, however, Serra is not sure if the fields can be saved by their organizations alone. Serra projects that it will cost $50,000 to get back everything that was lost, which is money they just don't have.
"Right now we are in the process of putting together a campaign to save our sport complexes in town. All the sports organizations together – baseball, football and soccer – have gotten together and they are going to start a campaign to raise money for the fields," said Serra.
Serra said the organizations will place canisters inside of local businesses and will go to corporations seeking donations.