Grant to fund inclusive playground

Sparta has been awarded a grant of nearly $600,000 to fund a completely inclusive playground, Councilwoman Christine Quinn reported at the Township Council meeting June 25.

Completely inclusive playgrounds provide opportunities for play that are not available at most playgrounds for children and adults with disabilities. They also provide wheelchair accessibility to the playground equipment.

Sparta applied for the grant from the New Jersey Green Acres program early this year. The township is required to provide a quarter of the cost; that money was included in the municipal budget.

”This is a huge grant, so we’re super-excited about it,” Quinn said.

The playground will be built at the Kids Kastle playground at Station Park.

Township officials are looking for suggestions from residents, especially parents of children with special needs. Quinn said she expects residents will be asked to complete an online survey about the project.

”These fully inclusive playgrounds have something for everyone literally - sensory, physical challenges, auditory, kinesthetic, visual,” she added.

Master plan revision

The council voted 3-1-1 to introduce a proposed ordinance to authorize an emergency appropriation of $300,000 to revise the master plan.

Councilman Josh Hertzberg voted no and Quinn abstained. The ordinance would require four votes for adoption.

Councilman Dan Chiariello said the master plan, which was created in 1984, is overdue for an update. It has been amended related to some needs “but those were not in any sense a comprehensive overview.”

The $300,000 would be included in the budgets for the next five years at $60,000 a year, he said. If the total amount is not needed, it won’t be spent.

”This gives us a chance to think strategically about our future, using that broad community and stakeholder input,” he added.

Hertzberg said he disagreed with spending “this kind of money in this budget situation.” “I don’t think it’s an emergency; I don’t think it needs to be done this year; and I think the current budget doesn’t call for it,” he said.

Quinn asked the council to look at a different funding method that would break the work into parts “and have checks and balances along the way.”

”I am extremely concerned that this is going to be well over $300,000.”

Mayor Neill Clark pointed out that the council will have oversight “to make sure that the money is not being frittered away.”

”There are grave concerns (among residents) about the development direction that this town is heading in. The way you deal with that is through a master plan review,” he said.

”There is a need here. And it’s a need that the public has made loud and clear.”

Also introduced were proposed ordinances:

• To appropriate $2.5 million from the General Capital Improvement Fund for various capital improvements.

• To appropriate $500,000 from the Water Capital Improvement Fund for various water capital improvements.

Public hearings and final votes on the proposed ordinances will be held July 23.

’Happy Gilmore’ sequel

Clark said he and a member of the township’s Film Readiness Committee talked to a Netflix production employee about possibly filming a sequel to the 1996 movie “Happy Gilmore” in Sparta.

A committee member had heard that a Netflix production unit was scouting the Lake Mohawk Golf Club as a possible filming location, Clark said. “We’re just one of other locations that they’re observing but we tried to sell them on Sparta.”

The film would be made from the end of the summer through Thanksgiving.

Clark appointed Sparta resident Roy McDonald to the Film Readiness Committee. He called him “a hidden gem,” pointing out that he has decades of experience, particularly in editing and lighting.

Newton filmmaker Kevan Ali said he is making a short film at Burger & Butcher, owned by in Sparta. Geoffrey Owens, who appeared in “The Cosby Show,” has agreed to do a cameo in it.

The short film will be a precursor to a television show that will be filmed later at Industry Kitchen + Bar in Sparta. ”It’s essentially ‘The Bear’ meets ‘Barry,’ “ he said.

An unrelated movie, which he called “a raunchy comedy,” is being filmed at the Bare Den in Andover through the end of July, he said.

Chiariello said he plans to attend an international conference of municipalities named after the Greek city of Sparta in that city this summer.

Sparta, N.J., has been selected by the Sparta Institute of Greece as the site of that conference in 2026. The township is forming a committee to organize that event.

In answer to a resident’s question, Quinn said Sparta has received about $53,000 from the national opioids settlement. The money has been used by the Police Department for Narcan, Law Enforcement Against Drugs (L.E.A.D.) Day and L.E.A.D. training.

The township Municipal Alliance Resource Team has used some of the money for speakers at schools and is considering additional recreational and mental health programs.

The team wants to encourage residents to live their best life rather than just saying no to drugs, she added. “It’s all about being physically and mentally healthy ... those are the best deterrents to substance use and abuse.”