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Printed From Acorn-Online.com Weston Forum
by Patricia Gay When mysterious shards of glass and other debris were found embedded throughout the outfield at Revson Baseball Field two weeks ago, the news was an unwelcome surprise to town officials and the Weston community. “It’s pretty unimaginable,” Tom Landry, town administrator, said. Resident Bob Walpuck called Revson a “field of screams.” (Click here for a slideshow showing some of the debris found.) But when Don Lizak, the athletic director of St. Joseph’s College in Long Island, heard about the situation in Weston, it came as no surprise to him. Mr. Lizak has had to contend with large quantities of glass on one of the playing fields on his college campus, too. “In December, one of our physical plant workers was walking along the soccer field and discovered pieces of glass all over it,” Mr. Lizak said. His descriptions of the glass fragments found there sounded just like those uncovered at Revson. “There were all kinds of thick glass pieces, pottery, ceramics, and a lot of other trash and debris. It was very dangerous,” Mr. Lizak said. Common bond As it turns out, Weston, Conn., and St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue, Long Island, have a common bond. Both utilized the services of Athletic Field Services Inc. to supply their fields with topsoil. Athletic Field Services, a company based in Larchmont, N.Y., bills itself on its letterhead as “Specialists in athletic field construction, renovation, and maintenance services.” In early November 2007, the town of Weston hired Athletic Field Services to remediate drainage problems on Revson Field utilizing a “shatter penetration and aeration” method. The town also contracted with the company to supply and spread 160 tons of topsoil over the outfields at Revson and an adjoining ball field, and 40 tons of clay over the two infields. The total cost of the project was around $42,000. Don Gary, a member of the town’s building committee, and Dave Ungar, director of parks and recreation, said the company appeared to do the work as requested. But two weeks ago, a school maintenance worker noticed widespread glass and debris on Revson as he was preparing the field for spring baseball practice. St. Joseph’s In November 2007, Athletic Field Services also performed aeration work at St. Joseph’s. The company also supplied and spread topsoil over its soccer field, Mr. Lizak said. A few weeks later, a large quantity of glass was discovered on the field. “We immediately called the company and complained,” Mr. Lizak said. He said the company’s owner, Flavio LaRocca, came out to inspect the soccer field and initially denied responsibility for the glass. “He was uncooperative, defensive and not very good to deal with. He was also rude to our staff,” Mr. Lizak said. He said Mr. LaRocca tried to blame a consultant, who was no longer working for the company, for ordering bad topsoil, but Mr. Lizak didn’t believe him. According to Mr. Lizak, eventually Mr. LaRocca did take responsibility and agreed to rake the field to clear the glass. “He brought in a team of about six workers and they combed the field,” Mr. Lizak said. But as soon as it rained, more glass surfaced. Frustrated by the actions of Athletic Field Services, Mr. Lizak brought in an outside company to comb the field again. “They raked up a huge amount of glass,” Mr. Lizak said. In February, after more rain, yet more glass surfaced. The field was then closed. “It couldn’t be used for soccer,” Mr. Lizak said. He said the school’s baseball team walked the field and picked up pieces of glass to clear a small section to be used in a limited capacity as part of the baseball team’s outfield. “We have had quite a few people on the field cleaning it, but the glass is still there. We are playing cautiously on a small part of the field, but we can’t use it for soccer,” Mr. Lizak said. Still dissatisfied with the performance of Athletic Field Services, Mr. Lizak said the college is not paying for work the company has done and is consulting with an attorney about next steps. “This is not a comforting feeling, just waiting for someone to get hurt. From an administrative standpoint, this is a nightmare,” Mr. Lizak said.
Back in Weston, Revson Field was supposed to be open by now for use by the Weston High School baseball team, but due to safety hazards posed by the glass, it has been closed until further notice. At a meeting held Wednesday, March 19, Mr. Landry and Mr. Gary were joined by town attorney Patricia Sullivan, Selectman Gayle Weinstein, and others in an examination of Revson Field. “I was surprised. I didn’t expect to see something like that on a ballfield,” Ms. Sullivan said. Afterwards, Mr. Landry said he directed Ms. Sullivan to draft a letter to Athletic Field Systems saying the field was unusable and immediate attention was needed to address the problem. Two days later, on Saturday, March 22, Joe Fitzpatrick, chairman of the building committee, joined Mr. Landry, Mr. Gary, and Mr. Ungar on Revson Field to discuss the problem first-hand with Mr. LaRocca. “We walked the entire field. Mr. LaRocca said it was terrible and he had never seen anything like it before. He said he would fix it,” Mr. Gary said. According to both Mr. Gary and Mr. Landry, Mr. LaRocca said he would bring a crew of 10 or 12 workers with steel rakes, to intensely comb the field standing shoulder to shoulder. “He said he would also do more aeration if necessary and would come back again if there was any more glass,” Mr. Gary said. Mr. LaRocca did not return repeated phone calls this week asking for comment. Focus Mr. Landry said his first focus in this matter was to get the contractor to act responsively. “We’ll see how it goes from there,” he said. He also said the town was having the soil tested to make sure there weren’t any chemical contaminants in it. According to the written agreement with the town, the company was supposed to supply “160 tons of specified topsoil mix,” and the materials were guaranteed by the manufacturer/supplier. “It certainly appears that inappropriate fill was put on the fields,” Ms. Sullivan said. Selectman Weinstein said she is concerned for kids using Revson Field. “We want the kids to get onto the field as soon as possible,” she said. But she also wants to ensure the field is safe. “We need to make sure that Athletic Field Services pays for the repairs. What happens if frost or rain comes and more glass comes to the surface? I want the problem fixed now so we don’t have to go through this whole thing next year,” she said. She has also asked members of the Building Committee, which is overseeing Revson and other projects, to come to the selectmen’s next meeting to report where the committee stands on Revson and its other projects. “With this kind of financial environment, we need to know where every dollar is going to be spent,” she said. Mr. Berkowitz, the high school athletic director, said he hopes the problems at Revson can be resolved quickly for the sake of the baseball team’s schedule. “We had to cancel a scrimmage we had set for Saturday,” he said. For now, the team is utilizing the multi-purpose turf field and is practicing in the gym. “I would like to believe the person who sees what his company did would fix it. That’s what you would expect from someone who expects to get more business,” Mr. Berkowitz said. © Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers |
