Committee votes for field with seams
By Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Staff Reporter

It will be fake.

The Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee has voted unanimously Tuesday to fund a synthetic field if donations can be obtained to pay for $6,000 of the cost. The committee voted to award the contract to RAD Corp who submitted the lowest bid of $712,100.

The committee solicited bids for both synthetic turf field and the natural turf fields this year as a proposal to upgrade Arthur I. Hurd Memorial Field. The five bids each for the natural field proposal and the synthetic field were opened on Oct. 19.

"My recommendation to the committee is to consider the synthetic turf," said Superintendent of Schools Michael Zapantis.

The bids for the synthetic turf ranged between $712,100 and $923,000 and the bids for the natural turf field bids were between $477,323 and $787,000.

The funds are coming from the money recovered from the School Building Authority for the Overlook building project. Voters in both towns approved the use of approximately $1.1 million to upgrade the track and the field as well as the re-paving of the Overlook parking lot.

Zapantis told the committee that there is about $705,000 left in the budget for the field, so the bid can't be awarded unless additional money is found. He said he is going to be asking community user groups to help make up the $6,420 difference in the cost of the field.

Zapantis said over a 10-year period the cost per game of a synthetic field is reduced significantly because more games can be played on it and the maintenance is less.

Committee member Keith Glenny made the motion for the synthetic turf adding that the district's funds are not to exceed the amount approved by the towns. Any additional funds will have to be from donations or fund-raising, said Glenny.

Zapantis said once the bid is awarded there may be some change orders issued to try to lower the cost.

"You need to be very sure the money is there when you award the bid," Glenny said.

Zapantis agreed not to sign a contract unless the money has been committed from outside user groups.

The bid is good for 30 days from the opening, or it lapses.

Many members at the committee meeting spoke in favor of the synthetic turf.

"Of course I am in support of the synthetic turf field," said Dana Krul, of Ashburnham. "You will have significant cost saved in the maintenance."

Athletic Director David LaRoche said the field would be permanently marked for soccer and football and then could be painted for field hockey and lacrosse.

"We will play field hockey and if we have lacrosse we will mark for that, but those markings will come and go," he said.

LaRoche said that while the school doesn't currently offer lacrosse it is the fastest growing sport in the country and there 17 new teams in central Massachusetts.

"I have for a number of years seen the effects of bad weather," said Steve Scolum of Ashburnham and a member of the Pop Warner program. "Whenever the weather is bad it messes up a lot things."

Glenny asked LaRoche if it would be a district-wide field.

"We will play as many middle school games on it as possible," LaRoche said. "With the youth sports, we have always encouraged Pop Warner to be part of our fields."

LaRoche said the synthetic field can be used for physical education class, spring practices for the baseball and softball teams and a number of community teams.

The natural turf fields have to be "rested" so the ground and the grass can recover.

Amanda Wrigley, the representative of the Student Advisory Council, said they had tried to gauge the student body preference.

"I lot of people think the synthetic turf would be easier and safer to play on," she said. Jim DeLisle of the Westminster Advisory Board asked whether the spring installation of the field was guaranteed.

Zapantis said the goal was to begin excavation this fall after the sports season and lay the turf after the snow melted.

Dave LeBlanc of Westminster asked what happens in eight to 15 years when the track wears out.

Zapantis said it makes sense to save money as part of the capital plan for turf replacement, noting that at this point the replacement cost is about $300,000

Scott McCartney of Ashburnham is involved with the Pop Warner football program and he said he wants to advocate for as many youth programs as possible.

"I think if [the turf field] doesn't go through, a lot of the youth supports will fall through the cracks," he said.

In other business:

+ Oakmont Principal Jeff Lawrence updated the committee on the status of the advisor-advisee program, which is geared to help students connect to at least one adult in the building.

"We already began the first step of that by creating a homeroom situation where students are with the homeroom teacher for all four years," he said. He said the goal is for that teachers to

become an advocate for the students in their education as well as a resource for other information. The goal is to expand the program for other staff members during the second semester to decrease the student to-teacher ratio in these programs.

+ Zapantis also informed the committee that the state Department of Education voted on Oct. 24 to raise the score required to pass the MCAS from the "needs improvement" level of a score between 220 and 239 to a "proficient" level of a score between 240 and 259. The new graduation requirements will take affect with this year's freshman class - the graduating class of 2010.

He said if a student scores between a 220 and 239 on the MCAS and takes the specific set of course requirements then they may be allowed to graduate, but he said the state has not announced what those course requirements are yet.

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Caitlyn Kelleher can be reached at (978) 827-3386, ext. 15, or e-mail: editor@ thecommunityjournal.com