Synthetic Turf Study

1. Synthetic Turf Study West Perry School District Town Meeting September 24, 2009 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

2. During the 2008-2009 school year, 275+ WPHS students participated in athletics, band, and other extracurricular activities. • Participation in these activities is linked to improved academic achievement, advanced educational opportunities, increased leadership capacity, and healthier social skills. • Participation in these activities is also associated with fewer discipline problems and lower absenteeism. Athletic Facts

3. Purpose of tonight’s meeting • Background • Status of West Perry School District fields • Safety concerns • Possible options • Long-range costs • Timeline • Format for gathering and responding to questions Agenda

4. Opening remarks from West Perry School Board President, Mr. Charles Thiemann School Board Welcome

5. 5 rectangular fields support: • 4 levels of girls’ soccer • 4 levels of boys’ soccer • 4 levels of girls’ field hockey • 3 levels of football • Marching band • All middle school and high school physical education classes Current status

6. Current status

7. Football Practice Field • Sparsely populated with grass due to significantly high weed pressure and lack of root penetration. Result: hard, dangerous playing surface covered with dust and rocks • Varsity Soccer Field • High weed pressure and overuse. Result: rough, pitted, dangerous playing surface with bare areas near goal mouths and other high traffic areas • MS Field Hockey Field • Sections of shallow top soil, weed pressure and overuse. Result: rough, pitted, dangerous playing surface • Stadium field • Significant resources devoted to maintenance • Low spots, rough turf and significantly deteriorated sideline areas make this field too dangerous to play field hockey and soccer • Varsity field hockey field • Once considered one of the best fields; now below average condition • Requires significant amount of resources to maintain Safety Concerns: G-Max • * One additional field (MS soccer) completely unavailable for use due to unsafe conditions for practice and play

8. Football Practice Field

9. Football Practice Field

10. Varsity Soccer Field

11. Varsity Soccer Field

12. Varsity Soccer Field

13. Stadium Field

14. Stadium Field

15. Stadium Field

16. Varsity Field Hockey Field

17. Varsity Field Hockey Field

18. “A grass field cannot remain lush and grass-covered if it is used more than 3-4 days per week, or in the rain, or during the 6 months of the year when grass doesn’t grow, or it will become an unsafe, hard-packed, dirt field. It is not a matter of maintenance; it is a matter of usage.” - Rick Doyle, President, Synthetic Turf Council (STC) • “We just don’t have enough fields for all the kids to practice and play on with all the high activity. Even the bermudagrass takes a beating. You have to fertilize, use herbicides and fungicide. If it rains a lot, you can’t put kids in the middle of a mud puddle. Even bermudagrass will be torn up, and the field will be killed.” – Dianne Cabot, Prince William County Park Authority Grass Field Challenges

19. Need to stabilize deterioration of the fields for the safety of the athletes and others who use them daily • Increased resources (financial, human) will have limited effect because no opportunity exists for rotation of fields to allow them to “rest” • Land-locked campus; no room to expand Issues

20. Increase maintenance resources and resurface the MS soccer field • Outsource field maintenance • Increase maintenance resources; resurface the MS soccer field and add another rectangular field • Install a synthetic field Options to address issues

21. Involves an initial investment of $125,000 • Involves increased resources from maintenance budget • Does not address underlying issue of overuse • Repeats past, failed efforts to address the issue Option 1: Increase maintenance resources and resurface the MS soccer field

22. Involves a yearly cost of nearly $50,000 in additional maintenance resources • Does not guarantee significant improvement or address the immediate MS soccer field need • Does not address the underlying issue of overuse • Repeats past, failed efforts to address the issue with additional resources Option 2: Outsource Field Maintenance

23. Initial investment of $200,000+ • Requires conversion of a baseball field to a rectangular field • Requires additional maintenance resources above and beyond other options to maintain a 7th grass surface Option 3: Increase Maintenance Resources; Resurface MS Soccer Field; Add Another Rectangular Field

24. Provides long term solution to address: • Significant overuse of fields • Ineffective use of financial resources on grass surfaces • Ineffective use of human resources on grass surfaces • Installing in the stadium provides opportunity to generate additional revenue from athletic event admissions • Significant initial investment Option 4: Install Synthetic Turf

25. Landscape professionals have outlined the following long-term costs

26. Projection based on estimated athletic usage: number of yearly events occurring on each rectangular field • Does not account for daily usage by physical education classes • 15 year estimate of $709,230 does not include probable wage, cost of materials, and other increases Outsourcing/Resurfacing:Maintenance Costs

27. Projecting a minimum of two resurfacing projects in next 15 years • Conservative estimate considering there have been 6 similar projects in the past 15 years • Installation figures based on actual bids submitted Outsourcing/Resurfacing:Installations

28. Synthetic Turf cannot be overused • Utilizing the stadium field for most varsity competitions and as many practices as possible avoids problems/expenses associated with maintaining over used grass fields • 15 year estimate of $353,350 is a smarter use of maintenance resources Synthetic Turf:Maintenance Costs

29. $800,000 initial investment to include removing existing field surface, updating as required the existing drainage system, and installing the synthetic surface • Project cost for this study based on preliminary estimates provided by engineering and synthetic turf installation professionals • Topsoil removed from the stadium site will be utilized on the MS SOC field Synthetic Turf:Installation

30. Current average revenue calculations based on historical data • Football admissions (12-14 events per year) collect @ $15,859.00/year • Other revenue from special usage contracts totals $1,200.00 Outsourcing/Resurfacing:Revenue

31. Projection based on current data plus additional games as follows: • V/JV Boys Soccer (8) $4,000.00 • V/JV Field Hockey (8) $4,800.00 • V/JV Girls Soccer (8) $3,200.00 • Other Revenue – special contracts totaling an additional $3,250.00 (local club sports, district III playoff games, PECO tournaments, rentals, other special events) Synthetic Turf:Revenue

32. “In 2008, with about 4500 installed synthetic turf fields, the industry eliminated the use of between 2.2 – 4.4 billion gallons of water and thousands of pounds of fertilizers and pesticides, and recycled 25 million used auto tires.” - Rick Doyle, President STC • “In more than 40 years of usage under EPA oversight and OSHA-regulated manufacturing, no one has ever reported ill effects related to any materials used in synthetic turf.” - Rick Doyle, President STC • An NCAA study comparing injury rates during the 2003-2004 academic  year showed that the injury rate during practice was 4.4% on natural turf and 3.5% on synthetic turf. – STC Website Synthetic Turf

33. Synthetic Turf

34. Turf Usage Schedule

35. Mechanicsburg High School • Boiling Springs High School • Hershey High School (multiple fields) • Cumberland Valley High School (multiple fields) • Central Dauphin High School • Red Land High School • Cedar Cliff High School • Susquehanna Township High School • Manheim Central High School (multiple fields) • Manheim Township High School • Selinsgrove High School • Shippensburg High School (uses university) • Northeastern High School Local Turf Installations

36. District would use maintenance and athletic funds. • Funds designated for education would not be used and educational programs would not be compromised. • Installation of synthetic turf would not necessitate increase in school taxes. • Consideration given to all of the following options should this project move forward: • Spreading costs over two fiscal years • Combining available maintenance and fund balance resources • Fundraising • Grants Funding

37. The board has voted to pursue development of construction documents to be reviewed upon completion. • The board will continue to investigate the options for allocation of resources for the restoration of current grass fields or the installation of a synthetic turf field. Timeline for decision-making

38. Please be sure to write your questions on a note card and deposit it in the box provided. • Answers to questions will be posted on the website under “Athletics” and the link “Synthetic turf study”. • If you do not have access to a computer, please contact the high school office and we will make the questions and answers available to you in paper form. Questions

39. We sincerely appreciate your interest in the West Perry School District Thank you for your attendance!