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Beyond Troubling

Preliminary numbers were disclosed for the maintenance of the crumb rubber fields at the last the Board of Education meeting. It would cost approximately $75,000 a year for the salary and benefits of a new field maintenance employee, plus another $10,000 to $13,000 for the purchase of the Sprinturf maintenance plan.

These costs will hit taxpayers in their wallets. Low-ball costs come to $85,000 annually to maintain and stay within the field warranty. That means in eight years, we’ll spend $680,000 to $704,000 in maintenance alone. When you factor in the cost to replace the two fields ($800,000, without inflation) and the cost to actually remove the old crumb rubber toxic waste ($90,000), we’ll be spending at minimum $1,570,000 over eight years. That’s, at minimum, $196,250 per year that will impact taxpayers.

Anyway you cut it, it means higher taxes for shredded tires in the ground—something nearly 300 residents have vocally opposed for months. And, unbelievably, we fought the state for years to clean up used tires in our ground. Why we think it’s appropriate to put this back into our land is beyond troubling and reeks of officials succumbing to turf lobbying.

How does the town intend to pay for these fields? If the BOE has to pay for it, how do they ensure educational and academic needs are alway top priority, as the superintendent passionately claimed?

The reality is taxes will be impacted immediately and for nearly a decade or more.

It is the expensive elephant in the room that every single resident who is against these fields has been asking. Given the state budget realities, and the fact that North Haven ECS funding is in dire jeopardy these questions must be answered immediately.

Danielle Morfi

North Haven

Danielle Morfi is seeking a seat on the Board of Finance.