Fill out Survey - Artificial turf redesign to start in 2022!

Would you like to get more info about artificial turf? Would you like to let the school committee know your thoughts? Don't know much about this project but are interested in learning...answer this short survey.

Click here for Survey: INFO AND SURVEY

Write to the School Committee: schoolcommittee@mgrhs.org

Discarded Artificial Turf

The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee has been considering constructing an artificial turf field on the school campus. You may have been a signatory on a community letter to the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee in January 2020. Since that time a lot has changed. But the school committee continues to forge ahead in the absence of clear widespread community support for an artificial turf field.

Here is a brief update of what has transpired over the past 2 years.

There are many new committee and staff members at Mount Greylock – 5 new school committee members (Julia Bowen, José Constantine, and Carrie Greene from Williamstown; Ursula Maloy and Curtis Elfenbein from Lanesborough), a new superintendent, Jacob McCandless and a new business manager, Joe Bergeron. While they have access to all former correspondence, it may be beneficial for them to hear from you directly.

The school has severed its relationship with the landscape architect who had prepared the previous designs. They are now about to embark on a new design process with a new design team.

The gift money from Williams College that is being used to fund this effort is worth an estimated $4.7 million.

The school has completed the construction of the ADA and Title IX improvements so there is not a regulatory reason to rush the field project.

In July 2019, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) adopted a new Heat Modification Policy. In the spring of 2021, for the first time, several matches in Hampshire County at a number of schools were canceled due to high temperatures. Artificial turf exacerbates this problem.

Williamstown adopted a net zero resolution at 2021 Town Meeting which includes a commitment to “include consideration of our Net Zero GHG emissions goal and climate change impacts in all municipal decisions and planning and procurement activities.”

What hasn’t changed:

There is no comprehensive or long term plan for the athletic infrastructure. At the December 9, 2021 committee meeting, information was presented related to the need to re-construct the main football/soccer field (John Allen Field) and to provide drainage around another field. There is also a potential need for a well(s) to provide irrigation for the fields.

The committee continues to consider the gift separate from tax and other revenue, so it is not included in annual Town budgets. When schools require a bond vote to purchase and install artificial turf they often fail to achieve support. Voters in Bennington turned down an artificial turf complex in the fall 2021.

The school committee has the ability to make a significant financial decision that could impact future expenditures and have future tax implications (maintenance, replacement costs of ~ $500,000 every 8-12 years). Over the life of a field, artificial turf fields are considerably more expensive than grass.

An artificial turf field could have a detrimental effect on the environment through contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. A report by Bennington College and Beyond Plastics noted that the production of plastics is on pace to emit more greenhouse gases than coal-fired power plants within this decade, thereby undercutting global efforts to tackle climate change.

Artificial turf fields contribute to microplastic pollution in soils and waterways. Despite best efforts to contain materials on the field, grass blades and infill material (crumb rubber pellets, or other material) are washed off the site by wind and rain.

An artificial turf field risks PFAs contamination on the school property.

The school committee has not updated the 2020 FAQ and has not prepared a report or conceptual drawings to aid them or the community in understanding this project.

The school committee has not identified how the field will be disposed of in 8-12 years. Since there are no turf recycling facilities in the United States, and it is expensive to transport, the artificial turf (grass carpet, backing and infill material) will very likely be landfilled or incinerated at Pittsfield's or other nearby waste-to-energy plant.

There are concerns about health and safety of synthetic turf fields.

At the recent December 9 meeting, theSchool Committee expressed desire to hear from the community. You can express your views by:

-- Writing to the school committee directly at schoolcommittee@mgrhs.org

-- Answering this short survey and we will share the aggregate responses with the committee. Click here for Survey: INFO AND SURVEY

Susan Abrams, Stephanie Boyd, Anne O'Connor, Wendy Penner, Molly Polk, Bridget Spann