Recreation Commission Endorses Synthetic Field Maintenance Program

The Montville recreation commission passed a motion on July 14 to recommend to the township committee that Bridgewater-based SportCare be put in charge of the maintenance and cleaning of two town park playing fields.

If the township committee were to accept the commission's recommendation, SportCare would be responsible for the professional-level maintenance of the synthetic playing fields at Camp Dawson at 80 Jacksonville Road, and at the community park at 130 Changebridge Road.

According to Vince DeNebe and Andrew Schwartz, representatives from SportCare, the synthetic fields at Camp Dawson, which were installed during the spring of 2004, have kept up very well and would not require an excessive amount of maintenance.

"Most fields have a warrantee of 10 years or so," DeNebe said. "I wouldn't be surprised if that field had another eight years left in it."

DeNebe and Schwartz preformed GMAX tests on the fields, which measure the hardness of a playing field. According to Schwartz, while they did not run a full tests, they were able to get a sense for each field's general hardness.

The fields at Camp Dawson measured out at 90 on the GMAX scale, while the fields at the community park measured at 130. The highest rating a field can receive before risking condemnation is 200.

According to DeNebe, the comparatively high rating for the new field has to do with a combination of factors, including amount of use and the materials used to build the synthetic field.

"A lot of what makes a field hard is how much the infill has been moved around," he said. "The community park is showing more wear because the rubber is being pushed around in high use areas, like the corners for soccer kicks and the center of the field for face-offs."

Should the township committee accept SportCare as a maintenance provider, the town will have three different options to choose from for each field, including different levels of scheduled maintenance. According to Schwartz, SportCare would be able to train members of the township public works department on basic care and signs of wear on the fields.

Schwartz took time to praise the town's recreational facilities, calling them "incomparable" to what he's seen in other municipalities.

"You guys have great facilities here," he said. "What you offer between Camp Dawson and the community park and the natural grass fields, kids are fortunate to have what they have in this town.

The recreation commission questioned the representatives for 30 minutes before unanimously passing the motion to recommend SportCare.

The next township committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 27, while the next recreation commission meeting is scheduled for August 11.