Turf Project Draws Student Athlete, Resident Support In Westfield

WESTFIELD, NJ — After the release of CME Associates' study on the proposed Edison Fields synthetic turf project, many student athletes, coaches and residents voiced their opinions about the project at Tuesday night's Westfield Town Council meeting.

The town's engineering firm has recommended that the town move forward with the turf project, arguing that it will allow for the most field-playing time and usage, as opposed to natural grass fields. This project, which is proposed to be installed at Edison Intermediate School, has been fiercely debated by Westfield residents for the past several months.

Read more: Turf Project Sparks Health Concerns From Westfield Parents

Based on CME's report and an additional analysis conducted by the town, Councilman Scott Katz said quantitatively that artificial turf fields with lights will provide the town with the "most efficient" cost per playing hour use of the fields.

Katz said other benefits of the project include reliability of field availability, even during inclement weather, as well as other facility improvements.

However, David Contract argued that the report's conclusions are "not solid" and still need more work. He said the entire finance committee did not fully support CME's findings.

While some residents have expressed environmental and health concerns over artificial fields, as well as concerns about the stadium lights that have been proposed for the project, several student athletes and parents urged the council to approve the project.

Currently, several Westfield teams, such as field hockey and football, must travel to other schools or fields in nearby towns in order to practice on turf.

Westfield High School's athletic director Sandy Mamary spoke at Tuesday night's meeting and said the school "desperately needs" this turf project.

Mamary said Edison Intermediate School has over 735 students in the building, all of who participate in physical education classes, but they must go across the street for gym class. Mamary added that students often are forced to have recess on the field behind the school. She said when it's inclement weather, they cannot go outside for recess.

"Scheduling is a nightmare," Mamary said. "Last week we had to bus our varsity football team to Chatham to practice on turf. We've had to take our girls soccer team last year during the state tournament and we bussed them Metuchen to practice on a turf field... We've gone to every town that we can to find to turf to practice so they can be prepared to compete."

Mamary said field hockey must be played on turf and that the district is behind other teams who are able to practice on turf.

A fourth grader from Franklin Elementary School, Zach Feldman, also urged the council to approve the Edison Fields Project.

"I play soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and flag football in Westfield," Feldman said. "Some of our practices and games that are on grass get cancelled because of the rain. The fields take a few days to dry out after rainstorms."

He said new turf fields with lights at Edison will let kids practice and play games in Westfield, as well as avoid long car rides.

Chloe Martin, a freshman on Westfield's JV field hockey team, said other towns like Union, Maplewood and Clark had similar debates to the one Westfield was having but "came together" to install turf fields.

Read more: Turf Fields Spark Passionate Response Around Union County

Resident Brian Crawford, and a father of a student at Edison, mentioned that Mayor Shelley Brindle previously shelved a plan to install two fields at Tamaques Park that would have allowed students to utilize.

Meanwhile, residents like Tim Eaton pointed out a number of location, health and safety concerns in regards to the project.

Eaton said the project would burden the neighborhood with "significant increases in activity," especially at night with team practices and extra games. He said this will cause more traffic, parking and safety issues.

"The lights and noise pollution will ruin the quality of life of nearby neighborhoods," Eaton said. "Some homes have backyards adjacent to the field only separated by a brook or bushes. Neighborhoods need a break at night from the noise and activity."

He even argued that the creek next to the field could become contaminated from the artificial turf, thus sending contaminated water downtown stream to other neighborhoods.

In terms of next steps, Mayor Brindle said the council will take a vote on agreeing to share a "shared service agreement" with the Board of Education, and the Board of Education will take a separate vote on that.

Brindle said the council has gathered all the data it needs and will continue to talk with the Board of Education on the timing of the voting process.

You can view the full CME report here and watch the entire Westfield Town Council meeting on Facebook.

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