News
McMann Field turf replacement group asks RSU 1 for help
Proposal calls for school department to borrow $250,000 for project
By Seth Koenig, Times Record Staff
BATH — A community group that hopes to replace a key Morse High School playing field with artificial turf has asked Regional School Unit 1 to borrow $250,000 to complete the project.
Since a group calling itself Fields For Our Future began raising funds about two years ago, it has gathered approximately $270,000 in donations from local businesses and individuals.
Last week, members of the group addressed the Regional School Unit 1 board of directors during a workshop to ask that the school department borrow an additional $250,000. With more than $520,000 total, the Fields For Our Future representatives suggested that McMann Field could be completely resurfaced using durable, space age artificial turf.
McMann Field plays host to a number of Morse High School and Bath Middle School sporting events, including the Morse Shipbuilder home football games.
Bath City Manager William Giroux, who accompanied the Fields For Our Future members to the school board workshop, said the district’s annual payment on the borrowed money would be about $30,000 over 10 years — a sum that would be spread across the five RSU 1 communities of Bath, Phippsburg, Woolwich, Arrowsic and West Bath.
Charles Durfee, RSU 1 board chairman, said it may be a few months before the board considers a vote on the subject. But several board members at last week’s workshop expressed concerns about increasing spending while a possible state subsidy curtailment looms.
“Overall, I really like this project,” said board member Chet Garrison. “But if I have to go back to the residents of West Bath and explain that we’re borrowing money in the face of budget cuts, I might not get re-elected, and I’m running unopposed.”
One possible deal sweetener for RSU 1 could be if the school officials negotiate a freeze in the amount the district annually pays the city of Bath for the operations, maintenance and capital improvements of the city-owned athletic fields off Congress Avenue. That complex includes McMann Field.
Giroux told The Times Record last week that, currently, RSU 1 pays the city approximately $100,000 per year for its share of the upkeep and improvement costs at the complex. He said that dollar figure is based on the extent to which the school district uses the fields for its activities and sporting events, and that the bill the city sends to RSU 1 is less than half the total cost of regular maintenance and upgrades for those athletic facilities.
The annual bill for that work generally rises each year as worker salaries and building material costs steadily increase, and a freeze in that bill would save the district incremental amounts in the coming years.
Giroux said the city is “willing to talk about” such a freeze as discussions surrounding the future of McMann Field progress.
The city manager also said city attorney Roger Therriault was consulted on the matter and opined that RSU 1 could expend money on resurfacing McMann Field without threatening the city’s claim to sole ownership of the property.
William Haggett, a member of Fields For Our Future, suggested to the RSU 1 board of directors that a resurfaced McMann Field could play host to many more sporting events in the course of a year and that the additional activity could draw traffic to area businesses.
“Think about the economic impact in terms of what a special complex like that will do to enhance the value of the community,” Haggett said.
During the launch of Fields For Our Future’s initial fundraising efforts two years ago, proponents of the project said the addition of artificial turf to McMann Field would increase the amount of hours the surface could be played on from 400 hours per year to 2,500. Currently, use of the field is restricted to about 400 hours annually to protect the natural sod from being kicked up and worn out.
skoenig@timesrecord.com
Since a group calling itself Fields For Our Future began raising funds about two years ago, it has gathered approximately $270,000 in donations from local businesses and individuals.
Last week, members of the group addressed the Regional School Unit 1 board of directors during a workshop to ask that the school department borrow an additional $250,000. With more than $520,000 total, the Fields For Our Future representatives suggested that McMann Field could be completely resurfaced using durable, space age artificial turf.
McMann Field plays host to a number of Morse High School and Bath Middle School sporting events, including the Morse Shipbuilder home football games.
Bath City Manager William Giroux, who accompanied the Fields For Our Future members to the school board workshop, said the district’s annual payment on the borrowed money would be about $30,000 over 10 years — a sum that would be spread across the five RSU 1 communities of Bath, Phippsburg, Woolwich, Arrowsic and West Bath.
Charles Durfee, RSU 1 board chairman, said it may be a few months before the board considers a vote on the subject. But several board members at last week’s workshop expressed concerns about increasing spending while a possible state subsidy curtailment looms.
“Overall, I really like this project,” said board member Chet Garrison. “But if I have to go back to the residents of West Bath and explain that we’re borrowing money in the face of budget cuts, I might not get re-elected, and I’m running unopposed.”
One possible deal sweetener for RSU 1 could be if the school officials negotiate a freeze in the amount the district annually pays the city of Bath for the operations, maintenance and capital improvements of the city-owned athletic fields off Congress Avenue. That complex includes McMann Field.
Giroux told The Times Record last week that, currently, RSU 1 pays the city approximately $100,000 per year for its share of the upkeep and improvement costs at the complex. He said that dollar figure is based on the extent to which the school district uses the fields for its activities and sporting events, and that the bill the city sends to RSU 1 is less than half the total cost of regular maintenance and upgrades for those athletic facilities.
The annual bill for that work generally rises each year as worker salaries and building material costs steadily increase, and a freeze in that bill would save the district incremental amounts in the coming years.
Giroux said the city is “willing to talk about” such a freeze as discussions surrounding the future of McMann Field progress.
The city manager also said city attorney Roger Therriault was consulted on the matter and opined that RSU 1 could expend money on resurfacing McMann Field without threatening the city’s claim to sole ownership of the property.
William Haggett, a member of Fields For Our Future, suggested to the RSU 1 board of directors that a resurfaced McMann Field could play host to many more sporting events in the course of a year and that the additional activity could draw traffic to area businesses.
“Think about the economic impact in terms of what a special complex like that will do to enhance the value of the community,” Haggett said.
During the launch of Fields For Our Future’s initial fundraising efforts two years ago, proponents of the project said the addition of artificial turf to McMann Field would increase the amount of hours the surface could be played on from 400 hours per year to 2,500. Currently, use of the field is restricted to about 400 hours annually to protect the natural sod from being kicked up and worn out.
skoenig@timesrecord.com
Copyright © 2010 - Times Record