Shunpike Field Bid Accepted

"Let's go build a field," said township committee member William O'Connor.

And with that, Mayor Nicole Hagner, Borough Mayor Nelson Vaughan and Chatham Athletic Foundation President Thomas Winter signed documents that formally awarded a contract to Fredco Landscaping for the renovation of Shunpike Field. The township, borough and foundation are sharing the project costs, which will allow artificial turf to be place on one of the fields in the complex.

The move, which was made at a township committee meeting Thursday, clears the way for construction to soon begin and signals the beginning of the end of a nearly four-year process to renovate the fields.

It did not come without some controversy. Committee members, Township Administrator Thomas Ciccarone and Township Engineer John Ruschke spent nearly an hour discussing what substance was best for the infill that will go underneath the turf field.

Most committee members advocated using thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) instead of crumb rubber, which is made out of recycled tires. Crumb rubber traps heat, which causes fields that contain the material to sometimes become unbearably hot.

Committee members also noted that there have been many studies done that discuss the safety of crumb rubber. Even though those studies have not shown it to be unsafe, Ciccarone noted that the studies also say that more research still needs to be done on the matter. There is always the possibility, some noted, that the material could be outlawed in coming years. Crumb rubber, in fact, has been outlawed from being used in any new field project in New York City.

But committee members said they were primarily supporting the use of TPE because of the heat factor. Committee member Bailey Brower, however, vehemently disagreed.

Brower read a prepared statement listing many reasons why he supported using crumb rubber on the field. One problem with using the TPE, he said, is that is comes from China, and would have to be shipped to the area. He feared there would be no good way to ensure its quality because of that.

Ruschke did note during the discussion that people who worked to develop fields using TPE in Ireland and in Queens, N.Y., said that there was sometimes a delay in receiving the material from China. 

Brower also said that using recycled tires is a good way to use tires that would otherwise sit in  landfills. He said there were lots of uncertainties with TPE (which is a relatively new product), and expressed anger with the board, saying he did not want to support some "pie in the sky" idea.

"I just want to admonish this board," Brower said. "This is not some popularity contest." 

He also noted that the crumb rubber costs $27,000 less than the TPE.

But in the end, the TPE won out. Brower was the only committee member to vote against the resolution to award the $1.58 million contract, though Deputy Mayor Kevin Tubbs—who has worked on the project since its inception—also said he had his doubts about TPE. He said he shared Brower's concerns about buying from China, but said his devotion to the project was too great to cause him to vote "no." 

"I've been working so hard to get this field for the last three or four years," Tubbs said. "I just have to vote 'yes.'"

Tubbs said the contract approval will likely allow games to be played on the new field this fall.

The committee still has to award a contract for lighting the field since the lighting portion of Fredco's bid was too expensive for the township, borough and athletic foundation to currently afford.

Ruschke also said that if the TPE arrives and the committee is not satisfied with the material, the committee can still go back and decide to use crumb rubber.