By Ward Peck

Editor

    Responding to criticism about miscommunication
regarding the town’s turf field project, Town Manager Michael McGovern
invited interested parties to a meeting at town hall last week intended
to allow people to air grievances and address concerns.

    Much of that criticism has come from members of the
town’s School Board who have felt left out of what they consider
important policy decisions which should be under their purview.

    Troubling for several board members was how, when
and by whom a decision was made to stitch permanent lines on the
artificial turf surface that some saw as favoring boys’ sports over
girls’ sports.

    The field is intended to be used by six sports
teams– boys’ and girls’ lacrosse in the spring and football, field
hockey and boys’ and girls soccer in the fall, but the permanent
stitched lines installed on the field will be applicable to three of
those sports– football, boys’ lacrosse and soccer. While girls’ soccer
uses the same markers as boys and girls have been known to play
football, school board members felt the decision revealed a bias toward
boys.

    Michael Ott, who helped lead the fundraising effort
to purchase and install the field through a group called Kids’ Turf
said that there was no such basis and the decision was made after much
study and consultation and based upon practical, not gender issues.

    Ott told the group gathered at the meeting that
Kids’ Turf, at the beginning wanted permanent lines for all five
sports, but was warned away by vendors and others with experience in
the turf technology who advised ordering permanent lines for no more
than three sports.

    Ott said there are two main reasons for this advice.
The first was what he referred to as “line creep.” Having too many sets
of lines on a field tends to confuse and disorient players. The other
reason was cost. Ott said the more lines used increase the odds that
any section of those stitched lines will tear and require replacement,
which can be costly.

    According to Ott, as the fundraising effort got
underway, the issue of lines was in danger of becoming moot, as the
fundraising seemed to stall. In order to deliver a field in a
reasonable time, the group decided it could save money by ordering
field without stitched lines.

    By early 2007 Kids’ Turf had received enough
donations to consider ordering a field with permanent lines. Ott said a
member of the Kids’ Turf group, Bill Homa had surveyed more than 100
turf field configurations in order to determine the best pay to employ
permanent lines on the field. By February, in consultation with town
and school staff including athletic director Keith Wetherbie and
Community Services Director Sue Wetherbie, Ott said, the decision to go
with lines for the three fields was based upon several factors.
Lacrosse, football and boys’ soccer are the three sports that wear line
markers the most intensely and would therefore require the most
touch-up work if the lines were to be painted. Another factor including
the decision, according to Ott was the knowledge that both field hockey
and girls’ lacrosse have seen rules affecting the placement of lines
have changed in the recent past and a suspicion that one or both may
change their rules again. Ott described the process of replacing the
lines as labor-intensive and costly.

    The decision was made to use a special paint for the
field hockey and girls’ lacrosse lines that intentionally disintegrates
and disappears by the next season’s play.

    At last week’s meeting, McGovern distributed a
booklet containing emails outlining this decision-making process and
said that while the decisions may not have been communicated
effectively, the process was far from secretive. McGovern rejected the
accusation that the permanent line issue was indicative of a more
systemic communication problem involving the project. He described the
permanent line issue as an isolated case of poor communication.

    Several people attending the meeting felt otherwise
and felt the town committee set up to steer the project had not been
properly used. That committee was originally to include representatives
of the town council and school board, however after the November 2006
election, three of the four elected officials on the committee no
longer held elected office.

    McGovern said those officials were never replaced
because by the time the new elected bodies took office, the work of the
turf committee had largely been accomplished.

    That committee may get new life as the town and the
Kids’ Turf group contemplate the next phase of the project: installing
bleachers, a concession stand and a coaches box, among other
improvements under consideration.

    The bleacher project suffered a setback after the
school board and town council failed to support McGovern’s proposal to
use $150,000 in public money toward the project.

    Kids’ Turf member and Spurwink Woods developer Jim
McFarlane described for those at the meeting a concept for a 1,800
square-foot concession stand and bathroom facility at the complex.
McFarlane said he and other members of the organization have already
conducted significant research into the project, but now need direction
and feedback from town and school officials before proceeding. It is
unclear how the facility would be financed.

    While the turf field has been described as having a
minimal impact on town resources, several councilors and school board
members have noted the increasing public cost of the facility.

    So far, the town and school have budgeted $64,000
toward the cost of the eventual replacement of the field, with future
combined annual installments of $14,000.

    The town will also purchase a $30,000 fence to place
around the field, to be paid for out of a bond proposal currently
before town council. The town has contracted the turf field vendor to
sanitize the artificial surface twice a year for $5,900 and will
purchase special equipment to maintain the field, including special
paint. While some of these costs will be recovered by saving money on
maintaining the previous natural surface, maintenance costs are
expected to exceed those savings.

    In addition, the school’s athletic department will
see increases for the purchase of equipment for the field and the
school board recently cut several thousand dollars out of the athletic
budget for police security during night games.

    Athletic Director Weatherbie and Police Chief Neil
Williams have recommended four off-duty police officers be contracted
to provide security at night football games. At an earlier budget
workshop Williams expressed concern about providing effective crowd
control at such games– even with four officers. Because the location
and set up of the field– near trails and woods open from all
directions– prevents effective access control and the strong
possibility that some of the spectators may show up inebriated to
weekend night games, maintaining safety and order might prove
challenging.

    Without money for the security in the school budget,
it is unclear how the officers will be paid. Ideas about charging
parking fees may prove problematic as such a system may encourage
spectators to find parking in nearby neighborhoods– angering residents
and exacerbating crowd control issues.

    Despite these issues, work on the field continues
and, depending on the weather, the likelihood that fans will be
cheering Caper lacrosse players– both boys and girls– at the new field
later this spring.