The BOE, in a 5-2 vote on Tuesday, approved a shared services agreement with the town to support the Edison Fields Project.
The project will establish turf fields at Edison Intermediate School, to be built and maintained by the town for $9 million. The town will finance the project and handle all construction.
The town council approved the shared services agreement on Nov. 9 in a 7-2 vote, sending the decision to the BOE. In approving the agreement (found here), the school district granted the town a license to implement the project.
Since it was proposed last year, the controversial project has roiled the Westfield community. Lawn signs decry artificial turf and stadium lights. Opponents have pointed out the potential health hazards of artificial turf, the risk that surrounding roads will clog with traffic, and the intrusive nature of stadium lights to homes that border EIS. Proponents have focused on Westfield’s dearth of quality athletic facilities, which restricts playing time and forces teams to hold practice on poor surfaces or in neighboring towns.
The vote marks another chapter in a long and bitter struggle.
The plan was presented at the June 15, 2021 town council meeting. The initial plan proposed to completely replace EIS’s natural grass field with artificial turf, laying down lines for baseball, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and football.
But the town council, facing an uproar from disgruntled community members, scaled back the plan on Aug. 10, 2021. The new plan, which the board approved in the shared services agreement, proposes to cover 60 percent of EIS’s grass field with turf.
Tuesday’s vote arrived after hours of deliberation, first during an hour-long public comment session dominated by discussion of the vote, and then during a board debate that lasted another hour.
Board member Robert Bennacchio motioned to table the vote, but his motion was denied, 5-2.
There remains no definitive timetable for the implementation of the project.
