Hoop courts starting to stir up hornet's nest
Residents of Jackson are starting to ask questions about the Township Council's plan to build a pair of basketball courts at Johnson Park.

The project has a total cost of about $450,000, which seems to be a high price to pay for two basketball courts, a fence around them, some benches and the other work that will go along with constructing the courts.

The money is left over from a 2004 bond ordinance that was originally intended for police department use. Not all of that 2004 funding was used, and some of the balance has been reappropriated to pay for the basketball courts, according to township officials.

There are items related to the construction of the basketball courts that have some people concerned about this project, and our interest is piqued as well.

When this project was put out to bid, only one bid was received for the work. The council awarded Fiore Paving Co. of Oceanport the contract.

Was there something in the specifications for this project that only made it attractive to one company? We do not have an answer for that, but given the number of construction firms there are in New Jersey, is there something that makes this project so unique that only one bidder responded?

Another issue that has cropped up is the installation of lights at the basketball courts. Having the park open at night will apparently be a change from past regulations.

However, if Johnson Park remains open for only an hour or two after dark, that would not seem to be a major issue and we cannot immediately fault Jackson officials for wanting to offer more recreational time to residents.

The extra hours that the park is to remain open should be the topic of a public discussion.

The questions being asked by some people on this and other issues may be a signal to Jackson officials of the winds of change.

Elected officials who are serving Jackson now and those who will serve in the future should understand that the construction of multiple adult communities in town has brought and will bring an entire new group of people to town.

The people who are moving to the new adult communities are educated, they want to be informed, they want to take a role in the affairs of their new community, they care about how their tax dollars are being spent, and they vote, often in percentages larger than the rest of the population.

We have seen examples of this in the recent past, and it continues this month with questions being asked about the halfmillion dollar basketball courts and a planned change to Jackson's emergency medical services response set-up.

While younger adults may be busy raising their children and working two or more jobs in order to be able to afford to stay in Jackson, the adult community residents appear to have the time, interest, life experience and skepticism that is sometimes needed to take on town hall.

This scenario has played out in other towns that have opened their arms to multiple adult communities on the theory that these residents pay taxes, they do not require many services, and they do not add children to the school system.

However, the cost to elected officials of pursuing this type of development is the increased scrutiny of the type the Jackson council is now seeing relative to the business it conducts.

We say that close examination of the public's business by Jackson residents is a good thing.