Vote on new turf field delayed until Thursday High School North expected to soon get artificial playing surface BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer FILE PHOTO The main athletic field at MIddletown High School South. In 2004, the school had its field redone by IC Improvements, one of the companies bidding to do the same project at High School North. MIDDLETOWN - The Board of Education opted last week to delay a vote on the award of a contract for the construction of an artificial grass playing field at High School North. The board was expected to award the bid at a special meeting Aug. 1. Board Attorney Christopher Parton said that "a number of issues were raised" and that the board decided to wait on voting. Another vote on the matter has been placed on the agenda for tomorrow night's special meeting. "Issues concerning student safety were raised and the board felt it was best not to move forward at this time," Parton said. "There was some concern as to some of the materials that may potentially be used and that raised a few questions. The board felt it was best to be careful, especially because we're dealing with the safety of kids." He said that the issues were not environmentally related, but would not go into further detail about it. The contract was expected to be awarded to Mondo, U.S.A. at a cost of $753,000. "The board had some additional questions concerning Mondo's bid and after a long discussion, they decided to postpone things," Parton said. Last month, the bid for the project was awarded to IC Improvements, the company that completed the work on High School South's main athletic field in 2004. The bid later was voided after it was deemed that IC was not a "responsible bidder," because of missing documentation that was supposed to be included as part of the bid. "The board gave IC ample opportunity and a good amount of lenience, but in the end, we had to start back at square one," Parton said. "In the end, the board absolutely wants to do what's best for the kids."