Crumb rubber, essentially tiny pieces of ground-up tire that acts as dirt on artificial turf fields and some playgrounds, has not been officially proposed as part of the project, but a citizen petition gathered more than 200 signatures for the article, which is set for a June 9 vote.
But due to liability issues that remain unclear, the Finance Committee left their recommendation as “to be determined” for the petition. The committee did the same for an article seeking to spend $450,000 for design and engineering costs for a comprehensive project to renovate parks and recreational areas.
Concerns have been raised about the long-term health effects of crumb rubber, and three federal agencies have started a study to determine just that.
Former Board of Health member Jordan Warnick, a retired professor of medical research and associate dean at University of Maryland, has been vocal about the need for a closer look at the material before it’s deemed safe.
“If I had my way … and money wasn’t a problem, I’d rip them up,” he said.
Some committee members, including Jeff O’Neill, said the moratorium’s approval could open the town up to liability issues.
He called it an “unintended consequence” and a “financial concern.”
The moratorium, O’Neill said, would allow someone to bring suit to the town because it “identified in an article that it’s against crumb rubber.”
Finance Committee Chairman Frank Rossi, however, said Town Counsel Barbara St. Andre has not answered the committee’s question: are there liability issues with the moratorium?
The committee last week met to discuss the proposed article and suggested an amendment: a moratorium on all fields and surfaces.
But on Wednesday, resident Adam Houser said a motion to amend an article on Town Meeting floor can only narrow an article, not broaden the scope of an article.
Moratorium supporters also said they want the article to mirror what the federal agencies said and specifically mention crumb rubber.
Both the Finance Committee and residents said there may be motions to amend the article on Town Meeting floor, but exactly what those motions will be is unclear.
Selectman Glenn Trindade, a major proponent of 2014 project to build and renovate turf fields at the high school, was the only one – other than Finance Committee members - to speak on Wednesday in opposition to the article.
Trindade, who said he was speaking as just a resident and not a selectman, called the discussion an “extraordinary argument.”
“We cannot operate in a world where opinion on something drives policy,” he said.
He said the federal agencies were not alarmed enough to suggest removing crumb rubber fields altogether and are not expediting the study.
Further, he said the town has no plans to build turf fields as part of any project.
At the end of his comments, Trindade said that as a selectman, he will be voting to support the article for the design funds as written. He also urged the Finance Committee to recommend dismissal of the moratorium.
This sparked some residents to question whether Trindade was speaking as a selectman or resident.
After the meeting, Trindade called a Daily News reporter and said the group behind the petition really just “wants those fields gone.”
“Instead of coming up with a moratorium on something we weren’t going to do anyway, they should come out and say, ‘We don’t believe these fields are safe and we want them ripped up.’”
Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.
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