As Jefferson Village School’s new baseball field remains closed to use over contamination and quality concerns, the town’s school committee voted unanimously Aug. 4 to reject a proposal from the project’s subcontractor to get the field wrapped up.
The two sports fields were built in 2011 by Rockland-based subcontractor George C. Hall & Sons as part of construction of the new Jefferson Village School.
The fields drew attention last summer when parents and school committee members alike voiced safety concerns regarding glass, oversized rocks, and other contaminants in the fields.
The softball field was opened for play last fall after Hall replaced the glass-contaminated infield mix with new material purchased by the school, according to The Lincoln County News archives.
A visual surface inspection in August 2013 identified over 60 pieces of glass, metal, pottery, oversized rocks, and other items. Lighters and at least one large nail – 10 to 12 inches long – were said to have been found in the baseball field as well.
The most recent proposal for the field, outlined in an Aug. 4 letter by George C. Hall & Son’s Vice President of Operations Bill Reinhardt, includes the company providing labor and equipment to replace the baseball infield material with new material paid for by the school, hand-picking and removing any stones larger than 1 inch visible from the surface of the outfield, aerating and fertilizing the turf once more, and reseeding any bare areas larger than 25 square inches with less than 90 percent coverage.
The work would be performed this fall, according to the letter.
Representatives from the company would also walk the field with Superintendent Steve Bailey and one other designated person to identify and “reasonably address” any other problem spots.
In turn, the school would be responsible to purchase and deliver sufficient quantity of the replacement infield mix, continue mowing the grass as needed to no shorter than 2 inches, continue to limit access to the field until it is accepted by the school, accept in writing that the field is completed to specification once the work outline in the letter is complete, and finally, to release retained funds for the project less a credit for the removed infield material.
“We are confident that above outlined steps will result in a baseball field that is acceptable to the owner, and if not, we will re-address this issue at that future time,” Reinhardt concluded.
Reinhardt previously stated the company is willing to replace the infield, but not the outfield. “We’re not redoing the outfield,” he said in May.
The committee’s unanimous vote to reject Hall’s proposal came directly after an executive session with an attorney to discuss a legal matter.
Committee member Shawn St. Cyr said current options the committee is considering for resolving the field’s issues are mediation or arbitration, which are both outlined in the contract.
Committee members indicated the earliest anything will likely be done to fix the field will be 2015, unless the town decides to take on the expense itself – an option that some town officials believe is not likely to happen.
“We had trouble getting contingency funds for a bus, how are we going to get funds for a field?” committee member Forrest Bryant asked.
School officials have said replacement of the topsoil on the baseball outfield could cost around $100,000.
