Mayor and Council OK Perc Test on Middle School Field

With a motion made by Councilman Austin Ashely to authorize the allocation of up to $5000 for soil testing the middle school field, the mayor and council approved the funding to perform a Perc soil test on the field to determine if it can even be considered a viable contender in the search for a field of dreams. 

A Perc, or perculation test, is a test to determine the absorption rate of soil. In its simplest terms, percolation testing is observing how quickly a known volume of water dissipates into the subsoil of a drilled hole of a surface area. Generally speaking, sandy soil will absorb more water than soil with a high concentration of clay or where the water table is close to the surface.

According to the borough engineer, Margita Batistic, to properly conduct the test, samples must be taken from 4 quadrants of the middle school field at the cost of $200 per sample, with engineering costs at approximately $700. If the DPW can do the digging, the cost would be approximately $1700; $3200 if the DPW cannot do the digging. 

Another option offered by Batistic is a geo sample, which costs $5000, but results in the least disturbance to soil. If the test can be done cheaper, but the cost to restore the field brings the pricetag up to $5000, the council said it would be more fiscally responsible to go with the $5000 geo test.

Given these facts, the mayor and council passed a resolution allocating up to $5000 to perform the perc soil test. 

Some residents opposed to the middle school as the location for the field questioned why the football field was not under consideration. Mayor Ann Subrizi responded that after every flood event, such as the Palm Sunday storm and Hurricane Irene, the borough had to spend money to repair the high school field from the damage it suffered. 

Subrizi explained that a field committee was formed in response to the condition of the town fields after Irene.

Referring to the location of the porposed field, Subrizi said, "There was no consideration of putting a turf field at the high school and repairing it after every catastrophe."

"That doesn’t seem like a good idea," she added. 

Member of the field subcommittee, Mary McElroy, reported that the subcommittee did seven or eight months of research prior to making a recommendation to the mayor and council.

"We don’t know yet what the end costs will be, but we will soon," McElroy said. "First let’s start with testing the middle school field -- it may be we can’t use it, but let’s test it and then deal with it. But we need to do something."