WEST MILFORD The idea of giving the high school football field a state-of-the-art FieldTurf surface lined for multiple sports and shared by town and school teams was brought before the council last week. This week, the council heard some opposition. Andrew Gargano, a former councilman himself, went before the council to try to dissuade them from the idea. He reminded them that two years ago the voters turned down a referendum requesting a similar expenditure by “a large margin.” The new proposal, as it stands, wouldn’t go before the voters. Instead, the council would pass a resolution to bond out the project. This doesn’t mean residents would be entirely without a voice because the council would have to hold public hearings on the matter, but the decision would be made by the council members. Board of Education member Greg Bailey, who is spearheading the field effort, said last week the project would run about $650,000. He proposed that the PAL kick in $85,000 and the school and township split the rest. Gargano thinks it will come in closer to a million dollars. He also said that although the idea had been presented as a no-maintenance situation, it was his understanding these kinds of fields have to be treated regularly with an anti-bacterial agent. Councilman James Warden said asked the public, and Gargano in particular, to keep an open mind about the idea. He pointed out that Gargano of all people should understand what he meant. He was talking Gargano’s fight to build the current PAL building, which lasted for years. But while Gargano is sympathetic to the idea of fighting an uphill battle, he thinks this particular battle is not worth it. “The PAL building was built for the majority of kids in town. This field will serve only the elite athletes. I’m all for recreation, but this is too much money for too few kids.” In addition, when the PAL building was built, it was a shared venture. The township bonded out the project and owns the building. The PAL was to lease the building for $12,000 per year, which would have had them pay back $1.8 million in 25 years. But in 2003, the PAL asked the township to scale back the payments because of financial difficulties. Since then, they have paid $6,000 per year, leading some people to question why they have $85,000 to invest in a field. Gargano doesn’t think the PAL can afford it. He said that although on paper it might look like they can, he doubted they would be able to bear up under the expense. In other news: Councilman Joe Smolinski was unanimously voted council president, and both he and Dr. Sal Schemmenti were sworn in to serve their newly elected terms. Assemblyman Alex Decroce was on hand for the swearing-in ceremonies. Withdrawing from the Wanaque Regional Sewer Authority continues to be an issue for the township. The township recently received an offer from Wanaque of $150,000 to withdraw from the authority. The township does not use the sewer company, but has made $500,000 worth of payments to it. Several residents told the council that they believed Wanaque was in a tight position and that West Milford should hold out for the entire half million dollars. Several residents also expressed concern about the Highlands Council Regional Master Plan. Doris Aaronson called for residents to show up at a public hearing on the matter in Mahwah on January 10. She said it would particularly impact lake communities which have been targeted for increased housing. The lake communities in West Milford, she said, already have water problems in relation to wells. Resident Gary Oppenheimer brought an anonymous and incendiary statement printed in another newspaper about two of the councilmen to the council’s attention, and asked for the council’s support in using the local media as a platform for the exchange of ideas, as opposed to hateful partisan comments.