Turf hits the curb at H.S. North

MIDDLETOWN — With work on the turf field at High School North set to begin, residents and board members have been wondering about one thing: What would be done with the turf already on the field?

Board of Education member Joan Minnuies has said that rumors have been circulating throughout the district about where the turf that is being removed is going and if it is to be sold for profit.

Board Attorney Christopher Parton said that the rumors were just that — rumors.

Parton said the field covering is currently being cut up, and the only place the turf would go was not on another field or sold to another company, but into the garbage.

"The turf is not going to the town or an athletic field," Parton said. "The turf is going to Dumpsters. All of the rumors that you have heard are inaccurate."

Minnuies listed the number of rumors that she has heard in speaking with residents throughout the township.

"Rumors have been going around on what we were doing with the turf on North Field," Minnuies said. "There was a big rumor that someone on our staff made a deal with another district to get money for that turf."

She also said that there were rumors that the turf would be going on some of the district's other sports fields.

"There are rumors that the company [I.C. Improvements] that is currently doing it made a deal with another company to come and take it out," Minnuies said. "There are all kinds of rumors. There are rumors that we are selling it to the Pop Warner teams or selling it to the town. It's become a wild rumor mill."

Parton said that no deal is in place with anyone but the turf installment company.

"The only deal you have is with I.C. Improvements to remediate and replace the turf," Parton said.

He then updated the board on the work currently being done at the field.

"They are now starting the process of cutting the field into a checkerboard and are removing it into square panels," Parton said. "They are about a third of the way through that, and literally have squares of turf out there."

Minnuies said that she wanted it publicly known that the school is not selling off its turf.

"It has to be put on the record that we are not doing anything with this turf, and you can see outside that it is being cut into squares," Minnuies said. "Our original plan was to roll it up and do whatever, but it's in little blocks and it's not going to do anybody any good so that we are not doing it."

Parton said that the school could not legally use the turf in the district due to litigation as well as the field specifications.

"The contractor has been directed to remove the turf," Parton said. "The contractor tried a theory of vacuuming all of the ambient rubber out and rolling up the turf; that did not work."

The remediation work is the first work done on the field since early December when the previous turf installer, Mondo USA, stopped work on the field.

Mondo's contract with the district was eventually terminated after the turf installer refused to come back and fix work done on the field.

The board would also go on to approve the use of CMX Sports Engineers for a professional fee not to exceed $39,700 for the design, engineering and construction management for the remediation of the incomplete installation of the Middletown High School North synthetic turf playing surface to replace prior engineer T&M Associates.

A new bidding process took place in early September, with I.C. Improvements winning the bid.

After Applied Landscape Technologies' bid was deemed incomplete, I.C. Improvements was the second-lowest bidder, with a bid of $996,260 and an alternate bid of $67,000.

I.C. Improvements is the same company that installed the turf field at High School South.

The company hopes to have the field complete by Thanksgiving, in time for the township's annual North/South football game to be played on the completed field.

Jamie Romm can be reached at jromm@gmnews.com