Chance for Turf Vote Redo
State lawmakers have passed a bill that would give the Sag Harbor School District flexibility when it comes to what to do next about a proposed synthetic turf field at Pierson Middle and High School.
State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. worked to pass special legislation that would allow Sag Harbor to go back to the voters and ask for approval to change how to spend the money that was initially approved for the turf field if the district eventually decides to go with natural grass instead. The legislation now goes to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to sign.
The project was approved at $1.62 million in November 2013, but because of delays in getting approval for the project from the state, the school district did not seek proposals from contractors until this spring. When those proposals came in, they were significantly over what the district had budgeted. At the same time, community concerns arose regarding the safety of the materials that would make up the field, and the school board decided to consider alternatives, including natural grass.
During Monday’s school board meeting, Tommy John Schiavoni, the Sag Harbor School Board member who serves on the district’s legislative committee, said the turnaround was 17 days from the time the bill was first requested by the school district to the time it was passed by the State Senate and Assembly.
Katy Graves, the school superintendent, said the district is not required to act on the legislation. “This opens up the options,” she said. “We really want to thank them.”
Greg Burton, a Sag Harbor resident, urged the district to move forward with whatever steps were necessary to install the turf field because voters had already approved it once. To do otherwise, he said, “sort of ruins the whole concept of having a democratic vote on these things.” He suggested the district revise the plan for the field so that it might draw less expensive bids from contractors.
Ms. Graves and the school board have pledged to give a presentation in the near future on the options the district is considering for the field