Feb 29, 2008
Board of Ed gives field lights the green light
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After almost two years, the Board of Education unanimously, quickly and quietly voted to pursue the next steps in accepting a gift of lights for the artificial turf field at the high school.
It was a peaceful ending to what has been a quite the opposite chapter for the Board of Ed. However, the ending of the chapter doesn’t mean the saga is nearing an end.
In front of a small audience, which made no public comment, Chairman John Boulton said the discussion on the lights issue will not end with the vote. “This remains an issue that will continue to be discussed,” he said.
The board received a proposal from Rusty Shriner for four 80-foot light poles in June 2006. He also proposed the plan to the Board of Selectman.
The board’s lights committee put together a set of limits for the lights this past fall that, in addition to allowing one conference event, regulates the shut off time for the lights, which would be 8 p.m. for practices during the week, 9 p.m. for weekend games other than football, which would end by 10 p.m.
Boulton said those limits could be up for discussion as well.
He also addressed the neighbors who have objected to the lights for reasons such as the effect on property values, traffic, noise and interference in their quality of life.
“We understand you have turned down a request from a parent group to discuss this further, and the Board of Education would be happy to talk or mediate that,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, Boulton reiterated that the journey to the field for the lights is not nearly over.
“They go next to Planning & Zoning, and there will be a public hearing as part of their process, and I don’t see that happening until well into the second quarter. Plus there is a gift involved and that has to work through the appropriate town bodies.”
Boulton said he’d want the “blessing” of the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting before moving forward.
“Our goal over the next few months is to get that done, we’re going to grind on, and are not looking for a quick fix here. It is going to take time. We’re not going to install the lights, even if we get a positive view from Planning & Zoning, until all the legal challenges are met,” Boulton said.
He said anyone thinking the lights will be on the field by this fall is being “optimistic,” and that is “assuming we get P&Z’s approval.”
As far as his suggestion that the board may mediate communication between the neighbors and the parent groups, Boulton said he could see that happening down the line.
The Board of Finance will hold a public hearing on the budget on Tuesday, March 11, in the Town Hall auditorium at 7:30 p.m.
The next regular meeting of the Board of Education is Wednesday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m.
“Mediation, in business matters and labor negotiations, is an effective tool. If they neighbors don’t want to do that, they don’t, but the offer is there, and we can negotiate all the way to the courthouse steps. This is just one step in the process — it has a long way to go,” he said.
E-mail Darien Times reporter Susan Shultz at
sshultz@darientimes.com.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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