Groups can continue to reserve the township’s facilities for a period of time by either paying a fee or entering into a written contract.
Evesham Township Council passed an ordinance at its meeting this week putting enforcement measures in place concerning organizations exclusively reserving township facilities such as fields, playgrounds or parks.
Evesham Township manager Tom Czerniecki said the ordinance stems from an issue where the township became aware of a for-profit vendor providing training services for the Marlton Recreation Council’s soccer program without a written contract in place between the vendor and MRC for use of the township’s facilities.
As the township has a contract with the MRC to provide youth sports in the township, Czerniecki said the MRC is free to engage any coaches or trainers desired, but the township believes those agreements should be executed under a written contractual arrangement between the vendors and MRC.
Under this new ordinance, Czerniecki said organizations could continue to utilize and reserve exclusive rights to the township’s facilities for a given period of time by either continuing to pay a fee or entering into a written contract with the MRC or township.
However, without such an ordinance in place, Czerniecki said he’d have no legal tools to remove an organization or group off a field if challenged by another group or organization claiming their party had already reserved the area.
Teams, organizations, individuals or other parties who violate the ordinance can be subjected to a fine up to $2,000, or community service or imprisonment up to 90 days.
Czerniecki said the ordinance was part of the township’s evolution and growth as it deals with many new teams and organizations looking to utilize the township’s facilities, many of which were built in recent years.
“That’s all we’re trying to do is help give us enforcement powers and help us better organize these facilities,” Czerniecki said. “None of this is meant to be a criticism of the way things have been done…but it’s really important that we remain consistent with all the state’s purchasing laws and the state’s green acres rules and laws governing parks and playgrounds.”
As the township’s contract with the MRC expires at the end of this year, Czerniecki said the township is already working with the MRC president to address rules for how the MRC contracts with its vendors overall.
“The concern can be alleviated,” Czerniecki said.
Czerniecki also spoke to the complications of having for-profit organizations profit at township’s facilities without paying fees or signing contracts as it regards the state’s bidding threshold of $17,500.
Czerniecki likened the issue to the township allowing an outside party to run a coffee shop within the township municipal complex without Czerniecki first putting the service out for a public bidding process.
“Under state law, there is no way I can allow that to happen without going out to bid through a concession process,” Czerniecki said. “It’s absolutely impossible for us to allow anything of value to go to a private vendor without going through a process.”
Mayor Randy Brown also spoke in favor of the new ordinance, saying the ordinance puts rules and regulations in place to help the township with enforcement for the use of its facilities, which is something the township does not have.
“With fields come issues, and we knew they were going to happen at times,” Brown said. “We’re fortunate that we’ve got facilities that we play on, and we’re fortunate that we’ve got taxpayers that have been very willing to help fund these fields.”
Czerniecki also made it clear this new ordinance does not affect residents of the township looking to gather informally with friends or teams at their neighborhood park or field, as long as the group does not attempt to claim their party has the sole, exclusive right to be at that location at a given time.
“This (ordinance) applies to instances where a group presents itself as reserving exclusive use of a facility,” Czerniecki said. “These are public parks. People can gather on public parks. People can practice on public parks, but they can’t claim exclusive right to that field.”
