The residents of the Scotia-Glenville School District will have to wait until the fall to see a finalized proposal for updates to its athletic facilities and middle school.
Scotia-Glenville School Board President Margaret Smith said Monday, March 10, at the school board meeting that the board had hoped to have the proposal ready in May, but that the board is consumed with the 2008-09 school budget at this time, and they feel they need to put the building proposal on hold.
Smith said that waiting until September will allow them to iron out all of the details for a building proposal that would enhance the athletic facilities as well as the middle school.
We are still researching the building project and sorting through specifics. We know there are concerns and we need to look into all aspects of this project before we feel comfortable enough to bring it to the public, said Smith.
Smith said the board is meeting with turf specialist on March 23. Talks about adding turf to the main field surrounded by the track have brought about cost concerns.
Glenville resident Ed Capovani spoke to the board saying that after three hours of research on the internet, he found evidence that turf can not only be more costly, but also may bring on problems with students who may have latex allergies.
`There are a lot of issues that need to be investigated before we propose turf to the community. There are sanitary issues, cost of ownership, regular maintenance, replacement concerns, latex issues, and then we have to invest in the equipment to care of the turf,` said Capovani.
Capovani also made the point to the board that artificial turf needs to be disinfected as opposed to regular grass, which does so naturally.
`You have bodily fluids being dispersed on turf, when you have grass it naturally disinfects and keeps clean. We already have the materials and equipment for grass fields, we don’t need to spend the money on the turf,` said Capovani.
Scotia residents Jerry Moore said that he also feels artificial turf will be a hard sell to the public.
`There are a lot of statistics out there that will show you that, more times than none, when a vote like this goes before the public, it fails to pass,` said Moore.
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