Was vote for open space or synthetic turf?
When the voters approved the Middlesex County Open Space Fund, it was intended to be used to purchase lands for recreation and conservation purposes and to balance open space and development.

The recent $2.5 million in grants from the Middlesex County Open Space Trust Fund to install synthetic-turf football fields at South River High School and South Plainfield High School is not within the spirit of the fund. While I agree that a synthetic-turf field is a great improvement to any high school's athletic field, the openspace fund should not pay for it.

Local residents should vote on their school budget, with the appropriations for such an improvement. This is clearly a school-related improvement that should be decided at the local level.

The state-sponsored, openspace funding question was presented on the Nov. 6 ballot. Were we voting for open space or a synthetic football field?

Richard L. Frotton

Sayreville