The Jefferson School Committee voted May 15 to pursue a legal resolution to contamination and soil quality issues with the Jefferson Village School baseball field, pending town approval.
Glass, pottery, metal, and oversized rocks have been found on the new baseball field, built as part of the new school.
Additionally, soil sampling of the field by testing firm R.W. Gillespie & Associates last fall found glass in two of 11 samples taken and only two of those samples met material screening specifications.
George C. Hall & Sons, of Rockland, installed the fields as a subcontractor for Bowman Constructors, of Newport.
Oak Point Associates, the architectural firm involved with the school project, sent representatives Steve Sargent and Tyler Barter to the committee’s special meeting.
According to Barter, a representative sample of the material spread on the sports fields was independently tested prior to the material being spread.
“That sample was in general conformance with the spec,” he said.
The meeting included discussion on soil quality and the potential benefits of a field maintenance program to improve the grass, but board members appeared primarily concerned with the safety hazards of oversized rocks and contaminants.
“The grass growing part probably could be resolved with some type of program,” committee member Forrest Bryant said. “But the problem is beyond whether there’s grass growing. That isn’t the issue of why we’re all here. We’re all here because of fear of children getting hurt.”
All the protections the town had in place during the school’s construction, including the contractor’s bond, are all still in place, according to Barter. “It’s going to be a question of how you want to push this,” he said.
School officials said previously it could cost around $100,000 to replace the topsoil on the baseball field, and according to committee Chair Robert Westrich, conversations with legal counsel generated an estimate of $50,000 to pursue litigation.
“I daresay these people in this town would shake up 50 grand for that right now as opposed to 100 grand to fix the field,” Bryant said.
Jefferson Selectman Jim Hilton agreed with Bryant.
“I think he’s right,” Hilton said. “You’ve got to stand up at some point, and draw the line and say ‘Hey, you guys didn’t do the job right, and we’re not happy’.”
The people of Jefferson would have to vote to financially support the litigation, however, Hilton said.
“I’ll stand here right now and recommend it,” he said. “You might be better off to spend your $50,000 now than $2 million to $3 million to solve some kid splitting his head open out there.”
Committee member Joan Jackson expressed concern over whether the $50,000 estimate would cover the litigation costs.
“What if it costs $150,000 before we’re done, and then where are we?” she asked.
“I’m not willing to weigh the money against children’s safety,” said Solorzano.
“I can tell you the townspeople are not happy,” Solorzano said. “They don’t want their children playing on a field where there’s a 20 percent chance of getting lacerated by a piece of glass, or their head cracking on a rock because it was under some grass.”
Bryant made the motion to litigate the issue per town approval; Westrich seconded the motion and the board approved it unanimously.
Though the committee had not met since their vote to litigate, Westrich said at the May 19 Jefferson Board of Selectmen meeting the school committee is not yet prepared to ask the selectmen for support as the committee is waiting on a legal opinion and a response from the contractor.
Bill Reinhardt, the vice president of operations for Hall, said May 20 he was not aware of the committee’s vote and could therefore not comment on it.
Reinhardt said previously his company would do a walk-through of the baseball outfield to pick up any oversized rocks, but would not replace the field material.
“We have indicated we are willing to come back at no cost to them to redo the infield of the baseball field the same way as we did the softball field,” Reinhardt said previously. “We’re not redoing the outfield.”
