Grant Could Help Overhaul Run-Down Basketball, Tennis Courts

A trip to the basketball and tennis courts on the corner of Fardale Avenue and Chapel Road in Mahwah currently has residents counting the cracks in the court instead of dribbling, shooting, and scoring.

Township officials admitted recently that the courts are in rough shape, but they say a grant application they plan to file could fix all that.

Mahwah’s township council approved Thursday an application to the Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund for some money to overhaul the courts.

According to Business Administrator Brian Campion, the project will likely take about $70,000 to complete.

The township is applying for a $35K matching grant from the county. If it’s approved, the other half of the funding would come from Mahwah’s municipal open space trust fund.

The site, “requires major repairs,” Campion said. “It’s a facility we’ve been looking at fixing for several years.”

Campion also said he believes the township has a good shot at getting the money. According to a notice he received from the county, Campion noted that there is less money in the trust fund allotted for grants to Northwest Bergen towns this year than there has been in years past. The notice said that if each eligible town participated in the grant program, each would receive about $30,000.

“I think this is a reasonable amount to request,” he said.

If the application is approved, the town anticipates conducting the project in late 2014.

Township council members speculated that after the work is completed, usage of the facility would go up, both by individual users and by organized teams and leagues.