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Council considers FieldTurf installation at Memorial Field
(by Kevin Glynn - July 22, 2008)
Township officials are considering an expenditure of up to $1 million on the installation of FieldTurf and lighting at Memorial Field, a project that was characterized as a “just in case” capital expenditure during the budget presentation in May.
Matthew Olds, of FieldTurf, a company that manufactures and installs synthetic playing surfaces that replicates grass for athletic fields, gave a presentation to Township officials at the July 21 council meeting, touting his product’s 10- to 12-year life span, annual savings of $30,000 to $40,000 on maintenance, an increase in potential use of the fields, and improved safety over the existing grass fields in the township.
While the council authorized up to $1 million in bonds in the budget, Councilman Robert Schroeder said in a phone interview that the council is hoping that up to 75 percent of the project would be covered by grant money. The township has submitted applications for grants to the county and state, but has not received word on how much it could receive for the project. “The entire project will be driven be grants.” Schroeder said
The council asked several questions related to elevated levels of lead found in certain artificial surfaces throughout the state, including the Northern Valley. Olds said FieldTurf would test the turf before it was installed and said the council could put a special provision in its bid specifying that if a third party should find lead content over a certain level, FieldTurf would be responsible for remediation. “There’s no provision for lead in turf,” Olds said. “We want the government to set the standard because we know that we can meet it,” he said, adding that a standard, which he is expecting the government to set sometime in the next four weeks, would help put an end to concerns.
FieldTurf, which boasts installation on 2,500 fields since 1995, including some 70 fields in Bergen County and larger local projects such as Giants Stadium, Rutgers University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and Bergen Catholic High School football fields, costs approximately $8 per square foot to install, $3.50/sq. foot for the drainage system, and $4.50/sq. foot to lay the turf. Based on Schroeder’s estimate of 90,000 sq. feet for the football, soccer and baseball fields at the Memorial Field complex on Pascack Road that officials are considering for the project, Olds provided an informal estimate of $725,000 to complete the project.
Once the surface becomes worn, it will cost approximately $5/sq. foot to replace the turf, $4.50/sq. foot for the new turf and 50 cents/sq. foot for removal of the old surface. Based on the 90,000 sq. foot estimate for the project, this would mean an additional expenditure of $450,000, plus any rate increases, in 10 to 12 years, the estimated life span of the FieldTurf product. Savings on maintenance over a 10-year period, based on the estimated maintenance savings provided by Olds, would be $300,000 to $400,000.
Should the council vote to go ahead with the project, the township would have to go out to bid, specifying that it wants to install the FieldTurf brand. The winning bidder would then hire FieldTurf to lay the turf after the stones and pipes for drainage were placed and graded. The entire project would take approximately two months, Olds said. The product is backed by an eight year unlimited warranty and an insurance package to guarantee it should the company go out of business.
The council will not make a decision about the field improvements until the grant money is received. “I don’t anticipate and decision being made for at least six months,” Schroeder said.
Kevin Glynn's e-mail address is glynn@northjersey.com.
| Comments (1) |
On July 26, 2008 Jill said:
Even in a town with a governmental body that runs unopposed every election and seems to have no accountability to the people it serves, this ill-advised plan to spend up to $1 million dollars, plus over $450,000 in just ten years, on artificial turf for sports fields during a recession, is breathtaking in its arrogance.
Councilman Robert Schroeder does not state unequivocally that the project WILL be driven by grants, but that the council HOPES it will be driven by grants. And if the grants don't come through during tough economic times? Will the project be shelved, or will the $1 million already budgeted be spent anyway, with the entire cost borne by Township taxpayers already burdened by increased fuel costs and a diminishing job base?
This obsession that the Council has with artificial turf, at a time when many other towns are dealing with increased lead levels at their turf fields, is curious. I am all for youth sports (except to the extent that in our town, the emphasis on these is to the exclusion of almost all other activities for either youth or adults), but the disadvantages of and the expense of this project make me wonder just why this council regards field turf as the most important issue in town. |
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