While the great chicken coop debate of 2011 took center stage at the Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 Maplewood Township Committee meeting, there were a few other items on the agenda. In fact, there were a few very interesting items on the agenda. Most notably, St. James's Gate Publick House owner John Meade was called in to answer a few questions about outside activities near his establishment and Dept. of Recreation Director George Rague addressed issues related to drainage and wear-and-tear on the DeHart Park playing field.

Here's a roundup of some top issues:

• John Meade, proprietor of St. James's Gate Publick House, appeared before the Township Committee to answer some complaints by neighbors about late-night noise, fighting and one incidence of public urination outside the Gate. Meade noted that he was only aware of one complainant and not multiple complaints. When asked what the protocol was to address such disturbances, Meade said that he had a bouncer on staff and that his employees would take care of any drunken or boisterous customers by bringing them inside and/or calling a cab. He deflected criticism regarding the incidence of public urination by stating that he did not know if that person was actually a Gate customer. Ultimately, Committeeman Marlon K. Brownlee counseled Meade to take ownership of such incidents — even if the instigator came from another bar. Brownlee said that not only would this be "good PR" for the Gate but that it was "being a good neighbor." Mayor Vic DeLuca asked Meade to "continue to be diligent," check the outside of the building and proactively call the police when there are disturbances. "This is your community," said DeLuca. Meade seemed surprised by the complaints and promised to follow up: "We're a family business," he said.
• George Rague, Director of the Dept. of Recreation, answered questions about the state of the playing field at the recently renovated DeHart Park which opened about a year ago. Rague noted that there were issues with parts of the field — including drainage issues, black algae, compaction and netting coming up — but that the field was and continued to be playable. Rague noted that the weather this summer — including Hurricanes Irene and Lee — had been exceptionally wet and that all playing fields in town had been negatively impacted. In fact, he said that DeHart had drained better than all others and had been back in action 5 or 6 days after Irene. Rague also noted that all of the contractors were due on site to take soil samples, address the netting issue, aerate and overseed the field. Rague said the town had had "a less than acceptable response from someone at Turco" (the contractor that constructed the new field) to initial complaints and now the town was working director with the president of the company. Rague said that only one event had been rescheduled to Ritzer Field when one team had practiced on DeHart without permission and "tore up" the field. When asked by Deputy Mayor Fred Profeta if the field would be up to standard in the spring, Rague responded, "I hope to be."
• Vice Mayor Kathy Leventhal reported on overcrowding issues at the Columbia High School Friday night football game on Sept. 16 and presented steps that were being taken to deal with crowd control for future night games on Sept. 23 and Nov. 4.
• The Township Committee approved the introduction of an ordinance increasing jitney and parking fees. The final hearing and vote on the ordinance will take place on October 4.
• Mayor Vic DeLuca announced that attorneys were still working on the final redevelopment agreement for the purchase of 125 Dunnell Road (the old police station site) by J.G. Petrucci Co. but that he expected to present the agreement for approval by Oct. 4. DeLuca announced that Petrucci would be presenting a preliminary plan for the property to the public at a meeting on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.
• Profeta announced that, due to a conflict with other scheduled events, Maplewood Green Day would not be taking place this October, but, rather, would be moved to spring 2012 to coincide with Earth Day/Week.
• DeLuca noted that he is working with neighbors on Woodland Rd. to craft new parking protocols for the street to mitigate any possible late night disturbances from the Woman's Club which is under new ownership. DeLuca said that the option receiving the most support from neighbors was to make the street resident parking only, except for four spaces in front of the Woman's Club that would remain shopper parking by day (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and become resident parking only by night (4 p.m. to 2 a.m.). Along the remainder of the street, parking would be limited to residents (through permits) all day Monday through Saturday and on Sunday evenings (to allow for parking by St. George's parishioners early on Sunday). DeLuca said he still needed to discuss the plan with representatives of St. George's Church.