Letters to the Editor
June 20, 2008
Letter to the Editor: Gustavo Larramendi, chair of the New Castle Recreation and Parks Commission, and Martin Hewitt respond to June 6 letter to the editor entitled: “Opposition to turf proposal for Upper Gedney Field”
The New Castle Recreation and Parks Commission submitted this response to the above-captioned letter, which appeared in the June 6 edition of NewCastleNOW.org.
The role of the New Castle Recreation and Parks Department
The commission is charged with the responsibility of overseeing the Recreation and Parks Department in collaboration with the elected officials on the New Castle Town Board.
We are responsible for reviewing all reasonable proposals to determine if they benefit our programs and the New Castle community. Proposals that merit further considerations are then presented to the town board for review.
New Castle faces a severe field shortage
Currently our town faces a severe shortage of fields for our expanding youth programs for both boys and girls athletics. The fields are being negatively impacted by overuse and they can not be taken offline for rest and repair as frequently as needed. Certain youth programs sanctioned by the commission for New Castle residents are renting fields as far away as Purchase to accommodate their needs. While the new field at Amsterdam Park will help, we still need to review creative ways to secure more field availability.
The proposal for an artificial turf field at Upper Gedney Field
The commission was approached by a private entity with a proposal to install an artificial turf field and seasonable bubble, from October through March, at Gedney Park at their expense. That field would be used exclusively for our existing programs, at no cost during our normal spring and fall seasons. In addition, the town would benefit by getting free clinics, discounted indoor field usage and having a local place for kids to practice and play during the winter. Other towns such as Armonk have similar arrangements with private entities.
The installation of a turf field will have little or no impact on peak traffic times to the back of the park as it would be replacing a field, not adding an additional field. It would, however, improve the availability of the field during periods following inclement weather reducing the rescheduling problems associated with that and with our overbooked fields. It would also improve playing conditions because the current field by necessity is overused and is currently scheduled for a complete rebuild.
The proposal is still in the investigation stage
In our review process, we are investigating substantially all of the major issues raised by the June 6 letter, such as the safety and health questions regarding artificial turf, traffic, parking and environmental concerns, plus others. While we have briefed the town board, we have not finished our review and therefore have not yet recommended it for consideration. In a spirit of transparency and good public policy, we reported on this proposal shortly after we received it.
Finally, we understand the health and safety concerns, especially those associated with the older turf materials. While the new generation of “infill turf” has been found to be a safe and effective alternative to natural grass fields and has been installed in many of the surrounding towns and other venues, we will be thoroughly reviewing numerous research studies prior to making our recommendation.
Gustavo Larramendi is chair of the New Castle Recreation and Parks Commission. This letter was written by Larramendi and Martin Hewitt and is submitted on behalf of the entire commission.
Click here for a printable view of this article.
Click here to read more Letters to the Editor articles.Click here to send a copy of this article via email.
We're interested in your opinion. Click here to submit a comment on this article, or any other.
