Board may tap critic as consultant on field
A persistent voice on athletic field woes would oversee repairs
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer

Jim Cody

MIDDLETOWN - Meeting after meeting, Board of Education members have been hearing one voice talk about the problems with the football field at High School North and last Wednesday took a step to make that voice their own.

At the end of a lengthy meeting and after a 15-minute closed executive session on June 25, the board announced at 12:58 p.m. that it would be looking into the possibility of bringing on parent Jim Cody as a consultant to monitor the work of turf installer Mondo USA and its local distributor Dartz and Matz.

"This board has determined that we would like to explore the possibility of hiring Mr. Cody in a professional capacity, as a consultant to the Board of Education to oversee the High School North turf project within the existing specifications," said Board of Education President Laura Agin. "This exploration will be complete in seven days."

The decision came after an hourlong discussion between Cody and the board about what he thought was wrong with the field and his concerns with how it was built.

Cody is a Middletown resident as well as a sales consultant for IC Improvements, the company that built the football field at Middletown High School South.

IC Improvements was one of the companies that bid unsuccessfully on the contract to build the athletic field at Middletown High School North.

When board member Sherry Gevarter suggested that the board hire a consultant, Leonora Caminiti agreed, adding that she had been suggesting that from the beginning. She then asked Cody if he would be interested in the position.

"I would have to decline that kind of position as I do not want to take money away from the taxpayers," Cody said. "But I would volunteer my services to make sure this field finally gets done. I'm tired of coming to these meetings to talk about the field."

Cody said that he would like to sit down with Mondo and the township's engineer, T&M Associates, to discuss how to fix the field properly.

"I just want to sit down with them and make suggestions first," Cody said. "I guarantee the field will be done by August or September for the fall season."

Earlier in the meeting, board attorney Christopher Parton gave an update on the situation involving the field.

He said that surety company Westchester Fire Insurance Co. has chosen Pennsylvania based Mondo USA to complete the controversial field, the same turf company that was awarded the contract to install the field.

Parton said that this time things would be different in that Mondo would have a representative supervise the project.

"Mondo knows that their reputation is on the line with this field," Parton said. "They will be making sure this project gets done."

Parton also said that the district was told that work on the field would be started on July 14, eight months after work on the field was halted.

"We have been told that the work would go into this upcoming sports season," Parton said. "But the main goal is to get this project finally completed."

Parton said that he was assured that this time around things would be different.

"Dartz and Matz will be the subcontractors again," Parton said. "But the big difference is that they will effectively be laborers."

This is the latest decision in a longrunning controversy regarding the turf field.

On May 12, the Board of Education sent Mondo a notice of default and termination after it refused to come return to work and fix the field. Mondo in turn issued a formal statement on May 20 in response to the termination of the $768,710 contract for installation of the field, stating that the Board of Education was in breach of contract.

The board referred the matter to the surety company, which made the decision to have Mondo complete work on the field.

The topic of the field has been taking up the majority of the public portion of board meetings since September and recently came close to a midnight curfew to end the meetings with discussion having to stop at midnight.

At 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday, the board had 10 minutes to discuss in executive session whether to bring Cody on as a consultant. Ten minutes later, the doors to the High School North library opened and the board had made its decision.

With no time to even set up the microphones, the decision to bring on Cody was announced.

"He's been coming here for months telling us what is wrong with the field," board member Rose Stallmeyer said. "Why not just make him our consultant so he can tell the people who are building the field."