Deal Saved Taxpayers, Will Benefit Families

James D. Morrissey, Inc. faced a hefty bill to haul away the tons of dirt excavated from the path of the Route 202 Parkway, but Dick John had a better idea.

John, Doylestown Township's director of operations, suggested the township strike a deal with PennDOT's contractor to take that dirt off the company's hands.

The end result of that public-private partnership will be new sports fields at Doylestown Township's .

"Dick had this idea that when the 202 Parkway comes in to get that dirt deposited in the area of Central Park that had been parking for Octoberfest," township supervisors' chairman Barbara Lyons said. "So Morrissey didn’t have to pay to cart that dirt away, and Doylestown Township was able to negotiate what would probably be a $700,000 park and we didn’t have to pay a penny."

The dirt excavated from the Parkway route through Doylestown Township has been dumped on the upper fields at Central Park. John said it will take about four years for the fields to be seeded and groomed and ready for play.

The arrangement ended up involving Delaware Valley College, too. Lyons said the college had a long-term lease agreement on the fields in question. The college agreed to void the lease, and in return, the township paid to on the college campus.

"It’s just amazing that all this could come together with everyone sitting down and talking about it," Lyons said, praising John. "He had the idea and really made it happen."