Crackerjacks, Wood Chips

Visitors to the Montauk School grounds may soon be able to buy peanuts, Crackerjacks, and more at Montauk Mustang baseball games, but it might be wise to stay off the playground, the Montauk School Board learned on Tuesday.

Lee White and Jason Biondo, two of the newer and more outspoken members of the board, reported to their colleagues on two issues facing the school. Mr. White sought the board’s agreement to have food vendors on site during the baseball games. The trucks, one per game, would park in the lower lot near the playground.

The Montauk Mustangs are a collegiate team that visited last summer, staying in host-family homes and drawing larger crowds to the games. It operates on a shoestring budget, and Mr. White thought it nice to provide a little extra cash for the team.

A member of the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals, he said he had spoken to Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell about it, and that Mr. Cantwell was more concerned about possible complaints from immediate neighbors than by the school’s allowing vendors within 500 feet of its grounds, as prohibited by the town code.

At Mr. White’s request, Jack Perna, the school superintendent, said he had cleared the proposal with the school’s attorney, William Cullen, who told Mr. Perna that as long as the school had no written policy prohibiting food trucks, there would be no problem.

    “I’m all for it, as long as we have one truck per game,” said Mr. Biondo. He was assured that that was the plan.

Mr. Biondo told the board that parents, especially those with small children, have been complaining about the new surface of the school playground. The board voted earlier this year to resurface the playground from ground-up rubber tires to a fine wood chip. The old surfacing had been there since the playground was built and there have recently been some health-related questions about the use of the old rubber tires in the media. “We thought we would get ahead of it,” said Mr. White.

The ground-up wood is getting into students’ eyes and on their clothing, and making a mess of the area, Mr. Biondo said. “It’s not what I thought it would be,” he said, not the type of wood chip he’d expected when the vote was approved. “I think we should explore coming up with a better finished product,” he said.

Rather than take a loss on the product, which Mr. Biondo said cost the district about $30,000, the wood could be used as mulch elsewhere on the school grounds. “It would be an expensive mulch,” he said, “but we could use it.” Another option was to put something else over it. “We’ve got to make it right.”

Mr. Perna said that rain had been expected to compact the material and make it tighter, but that has not happened. The board will continue the discussion with the school custodians.

After the general meeting the board went into a closed session, reportedly to discuss contract negotiations. Mr. Perna reported yesterday that members had also discussed the summer school program in math and reading, and decided to reinstate it. It will begin in July.