Falmouth Baseball Field Cleanup Approved At Town Meeting

FALMOUTH, MA — Falmouth Town Meeting voters were able to disperse over $245 million in just over four hours on Monday.

The approved projects included $2 million toward cleaning the contaminated soil at the now closed John L. Neill Youth Baseball Complex, and a $60 million project to improve water quality in the Great Pond area of Falmouth.

The baseball complex clean-up project will take money from the Community Preservation Fund to clean contaminated soil.

Despite a recent assessment stating that two fields were safe for play, town officials announced at a recent Select Board meeting that all three would remain closed.

A risk assessment report conducted on the now-closed John L. Neill Youth Baseball Complex fields in Falmouth found enough lead in the topsoil of one field to pose "an unacceptable risk to young children if repeated contact with soil beneath the existing turf was allowed."

However, the assessment stated that, although lead was found in the soil samples for fields one and two, play could have started again on those two fields with recommended topsoil testing before the season starts in the spring and again periodically during the season.

Town Manager Michael Renshaw said he believed conducting remediation on one field while allowing play on two others could be "problematic."

Now, with funding accounted for, officials hope to have the fields open for play in 2027 with upgrades made to the complex, including new fencing, dugouts and seating for fans.

The Great Pond Phase 1 sewer project was approved by an overwhelming vote at the meeting. Funding of $60 million will pay for engineering, design, construction and other factors, though the project will go out for bid this summer.

Falmouth officials expect the project to begin in the fall.