North Schuylkill School Board Approves Project to Install Synthetic Turf at Spartan Stadium

On Wednesday evening, the North Schuylkill School Board held a special meeting aside from their monthly meeting in regard to a project to install synthetic turf on their football field.

To say the 2018 football season was hard on the field at Spartan Stadium would be understatement. 

After the rain that fell during this past spring, summer, and fall, the field had become unsafe for their all-purpose stadium.

The district was left with the task to replace the grass on the field with a price tag of over $200,000 or look at options of installing turf, which has been discussed for over a decade.

 “Safety is our number one priority for everyone that uses our stadium” said Board President Charles Hepler.

In the past few weeks, the board received a project proposal from FieldTurf USA Inc. through the Keystone Purchasing Network with a total cost of $1,119,337.92, which was the lowest bid.

North Schuylkill received notification from three “generous” donors that would help with cost. After their contributions, the district would be responsible for $295,000 which would be paid in installments of $24,600 over a 12-year period. Instead of passing that cost onto the taxpayers, the district has come up with projects that will be announced in January to help raise the money.

“We believe in the long run, after analyzing our figures that the costs associated with maintaining a turf field are substantially less over the lifespan of the synthetic surface that it would be to maintain a grass field”, said Hepler.

“We have not made this decision without researching our options and discussing what direction to go without taking into account our fiscal responsibility, and also the safety of all the students that will have the opportunity to participate in classes and activities on the new surface.” added Hepler.

FieldTurf USA Inc. has installed their synthetic turf at local fields such as Lehighton, Southern Columbia, and Hamburg and over 20 Pro and College Stadiums.

The field would come with an 8-year warranty and advertised to last at least 12 years and with proper maintenance would last 20 years.

Due to company’s busy installation schedule, FieldTurf USA would need to start the project on April 1st, 2019.

Due the April start date, the project would prohibit North Schuylkill’s Track & Field team from practicing at home or having home meets. It would also force the graduating class to hold their commencements on June 4th indoors.

The board advertised and called a special meeting to hold a vote to approve or deny the project.  If approved, this would allow time for the district to acquire the proper permits from Butler Township and the Conservation District to allowed the April start.

The meeting was held the evening of Wednesday, December 19, 2018.

During the meeting, the project proposal was unanimously approved 9-0 by with all members voting.

Prior to the vote, roughly two dozen members of the public, including students, parents, coaches, and graduates attended to learn more information about the project or express their concerns with the project.

Public comments were heard from the public for over an hour including Joseph Nahas, father of Jake Nahas, a Senior and member of the Track and Field team.

“I’m glad you are doing this project, I think we’ve should it a long time ago, but it’s my understanding you are taking on this project early spring, and thats a problem.  The young people in attendance, my son included, do not want their track season interrupted.” Said Nahas.

“They want to participate on their track, in their home field, at their home school.  They don’t want to be bused to another school.”

“I’m a senior at North Schuylkill and have been running track since the 7^th grade.  It’s come to my attention that track season will not exist at North Schuylkill if this project comes to pass.  I will also not have the opportunity graduate outside such as classes in the past have” said Jake Nahas.

Nahas provided the board with a petition of 93 signatures of his classmates, in attempt to delay construction.

 “I heard some people say we are going to Mahanoy City to practice.  No matter where we go, you are going to have to bus a lot of students.  We have a lot of athletes in other activities.  Some of our athletes come to our practice, do what they need to though, then go to play practice.” Said Tony Chatkiewicz, a track and field coach.

“I feel and the other students believe that this is going to make us take a big step backwards from the direction we’ve been heading.  We’ve had someone represent North Schuylkill at the State competitions that last 34-35 years.  Are we going to take away that possibility?” added Chatkiewicz.

 “I myself have been training for this upcoming track and field season since July and feel the facility is extremely valuable.  By installing a field during our season, you are taking a very helpful resource from me and the rest of the team.” Said Luke Halko, a senior and member of the track and field team.

“I was on the track team and was able to go to the University of Virginia because of my experience on the track team and without it I would not be there.  I don’t want any other students to miss the opportunity that I had” said Carter Green, a 2014 Graduate of North Schuylkill and past member of the track and field team.

“I stood up at the school-wide board meeting in November and asked when this project would take place and we were told nothing would effected until the end of May.  If we would have known this when I asked, we would have petitioning more.” Said Emma Green, a senior and member of the track and field team..

 “When will the project start?” asked Chris Kufro.

Hepler replied “Due to the demand, work will need to begin April 1^st.  But if it does, there is the possibility if all goes correctly, Graduation could be the first event on the new field”.

“The weather obliterated our field this past year.  This is not an easy decision.  We do not want to see any of our teams suffer” added Hepler.

“Could we at least postpone the start until May 1^st?” asked Coach Chatkiewicz. 

“The company has received a higher demand than usual because of the weather” added Robert Amos, North Schuylkill’s Business Manager.

“Unfortunately we cannot dictate the exact time the project starts.  We have to fit into the contractor's schedule”, added President Hepler.

“We were certainly be discussing more and hopefully there can be a compromise with a later date. “ said Amos.

After everyone spoke, a roll call vote was held approving the project.

Other items were also voted and approved on at the meeting.  Those will be posted in the meeting notes in a separate post.