Medway: Concession stand operation out to bid

By Zachary Comeau 
Daily News Staff 

Posted May 29, 2016 at 5:18 PMUpdated May 29, 2016 at 5:18 PM

MEDWAY - The operation and profit of a concession stand will be put out to bid after the operation of the building was transferred to a youth football organization.

The building, also known as the Coakley Building, was formerly run by the Friends of Medway Athletics, a local booster organization that would divide the profit made from concessions to local groups based on how much time they worked in the stand.

That decision, according to Parks Commissioner Sean Murphy, was made last spring.

A March 2015 agreement signed between the School Committee and Board of Selectmen gives the Parks Commission authority over operations, maintenance and scheduling of three (two recently built) artificial turf fields at the high school.

Murphy said the commission, along with the Board of Selectmen, wanted more control over the concession stand “to know what it made.”

Instead, a youth football group now runs the stand and operates largely in the same way as the Friends of Medway Athletics, but the group keeps 35 percent of net profits after another 35 percent goes to costs, meaning other groups that work the stand at events receive less than before.

Friends of Medway Athletics, however, would not keep any of the profit.

Murphy said the youth football group was previously using a grass field at the middle school, which included a concession stand completely run by the group, but when the league made the switch to the turf fields, that extra cash was gone.

In addition, the youth football group has to pay rental fees on the turf fields.

“When they went to turf...they lost their ability to fundraise for the program,” Murphy said of the youth football group.

Murphy said the park commission’s goal is to raise enough money each year, about $150,000, to put into a stabilization account to replace the turf on the fields in 10 years.

After concerns were raised from Friends of Medway Athletics and Medway Gridiron Club (a high school booster organization) at meeting last week, the commission decided to put the issue out to bid.

Groups will be able to submit competitive bids for the opportunity to run the concession stand.

Friends of Medway Athletics treasurer Patty MacDonald said the group plans on submitting a bid.

Julie Dennehy, on behalf of the Gridiron Club, said the club had its questions on “operational changes” answered at last week’s meeting.

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160529/medway-concession-stand-operation-out-to-bid

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By Zachary Comeau

May 25. 2016 9:55PM

Medway Finance Committee postpones vote on turf moratorium

MEDWAY - The overwhelming majority of residents that spoke at Wednesday’s Finance Committee meeting urged the favorable recommendation at Special Town Meeting of a proposed citizen’s petition for a three-year moratorium on crumb rubber turf fields and surfaces.
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.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20160525/NEWS/160527252

NEWS: Littleton voters say yes to Alumni Field

By Alexander Silva

May 03. 2016 3:21PM

Littleton voters say yes to Alumni Field

The Littleton annual and special Town Meeting was packed, May 2, to the point where people had to sit on the floor. Wicked Local Photo/Alexander Silva

After more than an hour of debate, voters at special Town Meeting appropriated funds for the renovation design of Alumni Field on Russell Street, but not without some restrictions.
Voters at annual Town Meeting, also approved a three-year moratorium on the use of crumb rubber infill for synthetic turf on town-owned land, forbidding the use of scrap tires and restricting the amount of maximum allowable lead content.
“This facility, folks, is inadequate for what we do,” Selectman Chuck DeCoste said. “And the fact that we have been able to be successful is a testament to our kids, to the parents, to the athletic director, the coaches, the Highway Department – for anybody that has anything to do with our sports programs succeeding.”
The votes passed by wide margins at the two back-to-back meetings, during which articles were taken out of order to deal with the field issue. The amended Alumni Field renovation design item passed, receiving 380 votes in favor and 165 votes opposed.
The amended moratorium article passed, receiving 275 votes in favor and 186 votes opposed.
Over 500 people packed into the Charles Kaye Gymnasium at Littleton Middle School for the annual and special Town Meetings, overflowing the bleachers to the point where people had to sit on the floor.
“Alumni Field in its current state cannot support the interscholastic sports program in a manner that we need it to,” School Committee Chairman Mike Fontanella said.
Alumni Field and the moratorium
A variety of amendments were proposed for both the Alumni Field renovation design item and resident Julie Rupp’s crumb rubber infill moratorium voter petition.
Each item had one amendment successfully passed.
The $234,593 Alumni Field design appropriation was amended to include wording requiring the design committee to consider both natural and synthetic turf options.
The moratorium wording was changed from saying “no lead” would be allowed in crumb rubber infill to a maximum lead content that’s “less than or equal to 50 parts-per-million,” which is the maximum allowable lead content for synthetic turf surfaces in California.
The restriction of no scrap tires contained in the infill was untouched.
“It’s almost sounds like it’s a trust thing, if things aren’t written in writing, no one believes things are going to happen,” resident Stephen Poulin said. “We’re a small town. Let’s work together, people, and get this done.”
Field maintenance in town
The Finance Committee and a number of citizens expressed concern over the lack of a maintenance plan to care for the town’s existing fields.
“As a Finance Committee, we’re always looking at long-term things,” Finance Committee Chairman Betsy Bohling said. “We want to make sure we can invest all this money, but we have to maintain it, what’s it going to cost, is there a commitment there to do that.”
Currently the Park and Recreation Department, School Committee and Highway Department have an agreement for maintenance of existing fields.
The Highway Department has two full-time employees that do park maintenance in addition to one or two seasonal summer workers dedicated to park maintenance from late May through the third week in August, according to Highway Operations Manager Jim Clyde.
But based on a department evaluation by the Collins Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Littleton should have even more employees taking care of its fields, Clyde said.
The industry standard is one employee for every 8 to 10 acres of developed parkland and the town has about 62 acres scattered around, according to Clyde.
Some residents questioned why the town would renovate Alumni Field with no maintenance plan in place.
“Unless we really have an idea of what is going to be included in this, it makes it difficult to say… take the money, just design something,” resident Harvey Atkins said. “It almost seems like you’re putting the cart before the horse.”
However, DeCoste said that any maintenance plan would come after design work is done.
“Maintenance is part of the execution,” DeCoste said. “This is part of the design.”
Follow reporter Alexander Silva on Twitter @IndieEagleWL.

http://littleton.wickedlocal.com/article/20160503/NEWS/160508739

NEWS: Medway Selectmen set turf moratorium vote

By Zachary Comeau

May 02. 2016 9:21PM

Medway Selectmen set turf moratorium vote

MEDWAY - Voters will decide on June 9 whether to adopt a three-year moratorium on artificial turf fields that use crumb rubber infill due to a resident petition that gathered enough signatures to call a Special Town Meeting.
The date was set at the Board of Selectmen’s Monday meeting after a length conversation about the timing of the petition – just as town officials have started planning the improvement of several parks and recreational areas in town.
Selectmen were seeking the approval of the $450,000 for design and engineering costs at the May 9 Annual Town Meeting, but the board and Town Administrator Michael Boynton discussed – and debated – holding off on the project before the town knows what materials it can use.
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 selectmen on Monday acknowledged that there is a possibility the material could be used on playgrounds once upgraded.
The project, which needs Community Preservation Committee support, seeks to improve areas at Choate Park, Oakland Park, Cassidy Fields and the middle school. Funding would come from Community Preservation Act funds as well as the Open Space Bond Bill via the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
Boynton suggested doing just that before the town starts a “design process with someone that might specialize in that type of project.”
Two residents, Liam McDermott and Alan White, both suggested holding off on the project or proposed using a different material until after the moratorium vote, after the results of the federal study involving three government agencies.
Selectman Glenn Trindade said the particular surface discussed would replace wood chips on playgrounds and provide increased accessibility for handicapped people. The material, he said, is encapsulated in another material, thus keeping children safe from crumb rubber.
Trindade, after exchanges between the board and the residents, said the “biggest thing for (him)” is ensuring playgrounds are accessible to handicapped parents.
“Maybe I’m the only one that cares enough about this,” he said.
Selectman Dennis Crowley suggested moving the Annual Town Meeting article asking for the $450,000 design costs to the June 9 warrant to take care of both articles simultaneously.
He said the town could waste funds on an alternative material that’s more costly and more labor-intensive to maintain if the federal study deems crumb rubber safe, and Trindade agreed.
“If they come back and the indications are there’s no problem, we’ve been stuck on this for three years for nothing,” Trindade said.
Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20160502/NEWS/160509187

Medway: Petition for turf moratorium circulates

By Zachary Comeau 
Daily News Staff 

Posted Apr 20, 2016 at 7:50 PM

MEDWAY - After the Board of Health last month considered a moratorium on artificial turf fields but ultimately let the issue go, a resident petition is seeking to gather enough signatures for a Special Town Meeting warrant article.

A petition organized by resident Tracy Stewart seeks to place a temporary ban on the “engineering, planning, construction or installation of any synthetic turf” surface using tire-derived material.

At issue is crumb rubber, which is essentially thousands of pieces of ground-up rubber tires that act as dirt and cushioning on artificial turf fields.

Stewart, in her petition, said the crumb rubber used on three turf fields at Medway High School came from Liberty Tire, which also supplies the material for a field in Concord, which passed a similar moratorium earlier this month.

The petition comes two months after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Centers for Disease Control announced a multi-agency plan to study the material after several legislators wrote to the CPSC asking for further study.

Stewart presented her petition to the Board of Selectmen Monday and said she has gathered 164 signatures for the warrant article. Selectman Dennis Crowley, while applauding Stewart’s work, asked her why she isn’t waiting until the results of the federal study come out, especially as the town is planning to upgrade and improve several recreational areas and parks in town.

Crumb rubber and artificial turf, which has been used on playgrounds, has not yet been discussed as a component of the project.

Stewart replied that if the study comes back with findings that link crumb rubber to adverse health effects, the town would then have to “tear it all up.”

According to Town Administrator Michael Boynton, Stewart will need 200 signatures to call a Special Town Meeting and 100 to get the article on the warrant, but both sets of required signatures can come from the same pool.

Selectmen then have 45 days to call a Special Town Meeting, he said.

Artificial turf and crumb rubber have been in national headlines for several years, partly due to the research of a soccer coach for the University of Washington, Amy Griffin, who has compiled a long list of former athletes who have developed cancer after playing on the fields.

Several public health agencies have said that there is no definitive link between the material and cancer, but the EPA suggested in a press release announcing the study in February that comprehensive studies are needed for the conclusion.

“Concerns have been raised by the public about the safety of recycled tire crumb used in playing fields and playgrounds in the United States,” the EPA said. “Limited studies have not shown an elevated health risk from playing on fields with tire crumb, but the existing studies do not comprehensively evaluate the concerns about health risks from exposure to tire crumb.”

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/article/20160420/NEWS/160429060

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ABOUT: Medway MA Proposed 3 year moratorium

Petitioner: Turf Grass Forum / group

Drafted: April 14^th 2016

Article:  To determine whether the Town of Medway will adopt a moratorium on the engineering, planning, construction or installation of any synthetic turf (monofilament carpet with infill), any surface covering of loose fill and playground pour-in-place surface covering made from tire derived material on any land, of any size, owned by the town for a three-year time period starting on June 1, 2016 and ending on June 1, 2019; or take any other action relative thereto.

This moratorium does not include pour-in-place surfaces that are currently in use on running tracks or intended for use on running tracks e.g. the Hanlon Field running track. Town land includes, but is not limited to, that of the Medway Public Schools but does not include private land.

So what is synthetic turf?

It was originally promoted as a way of recycling and disposing of old tires instead of putting them into a landfill. They are ground up into tiny pellets and put into a plastic carpet to produce playing fields and playground surfaces. The process of breaking up the tires varies but the product is the same – crumb rubber pellets which are loosely held in place by the carpet. These pellets are not coated with anything or rendered “inert”.

So why the moratorium?

Medway Massachusetts’ current fields contain crumb rubber infill supplied by Liberty Tire.  Liberty Tire is the same supplier of crumb rubber infill in Concord Massachusetts,  a  Town which passed a similar moratorium by residents’ Town Meeting vote on April 6^th, 2016.

Crumb rubber, made from discarded automobile tires and used in synthetic turf, contains about 40% rubber, together with dozens of chemicals. Some are known carcinogens and endocrine disrupters. Those chemicals found in testing requested by the Town of Concord and conducted by Haley and Aldrich on the fields include:

·      Benzo(a)pyrene

·      Benzo(b)fluoranthene

·      Chrysene

·      Indeno(1,32,3-cd)pyrene

·      Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate

The first four of them are carcinogens and the last is an endocrine disrupter that blocks the effect of the male hormone androgen. These are not safe at any level in the environment. There are many other chemicals in crumb rubber, that have never been investigated and for which there is no data available.

In Europe, heavy oils containing benzopyrenes and other toxic chemicals have been banned in automobile tires since 2010 because they are highly carcinogenic. Tires in the US, however, still contain them and are a potential source of benzopyrenes in the environment.

Exposure in Children

To have these chemicals in close contact with children is a major concern. Children are more susceptible to both carcinogens and hormone disrupters since their bodies are still developing. These chemicals can be absorbed through the skin, inhaled during “gassing off” of the rubber on hot days and eaten. One athlete estimated that she swallowed crumb rubber every time she played on synthetic turf. The crumb rubber is also carried home on clothing, in hair and in shoes. Any parent whose child has played on these fields can attest to the quantity of this material that routinely comes home.

Of additional concern are young siblings who play with the crumb rubber on the fields while their parent are watching the games and are also in contact with pellets that are brought home.

National Response

In response to the growing health concerns around synthetic turf nationwide, four US

Congressmen from the Committee on Energy and Commerce and two US Senators have

written letters of inquiry regarding these concerns to the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA). They asked very specific questions about health and safety and these questions have

yet to be answered.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has not rated synthetic turf or crumb rubber as a child-safe product despite the high level of exposure in young children playing on them. The CPSC has backed away from its 2008 position of approving these fields.

In March of 2016, Mount Sinai announced a very clear position on the use of Crumb rubber advising a moratorium nation-wide:  Dr. Robert Wright, chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City states:  "We are advising against the use of crumb rubber fields until safety is proven. This is because the product is made from recycled automobile tires, which are well known to contain metals and other toxic chemicals. Some components of tire rubber are linked to cancer and others are toxic to the nervous and other systems." 

The EPA no longer backs the use of crumb rubber. Together with the CPSC and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, they have launched the Federal Research Action Plan. This multi-agency effort will investigate the effects of crumb rubber on human health.

The objectives of this Federal Research Action Plan are to identify gaps in our knowledge of crumb rubber, to understand exactly what chemicals are in it, to investigate the level and means of exposure to these chemicals and to identify further research that would provide information about their potential health risks.  According to the Federal Research Action Plan publicly presented on April 14^th 2016; it will include research and testing of all tire derived materials: crumb rubber used on synthetic turf athletic fields, rubber playground mulch and pour-in-place rubber playground surfaces.  The pour-in-place surfaces are referenced in the April 14^th Federal presentation as “unitary / pour-in or tiles”.  The CPSC admits that: the current CPSC Public Playground Safety Handbook addresses the impact attenuation to minimize serious head injuries, and not on other aspects that may pose other risks, such as chemical exposure or ingestion. (addendum to Handbook, Dec 29, 2015)

State Responses:

Medway’s own State Representatives Jeff Roy and John Fernandes along with Massachusetts Senator Karen Spilka wrote a letter of inquiry to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in December 2015 regarding the potential hazards of ingestion and inhalation of toxins; detecting the existence of known human carcinogens and investigation any potential risks to children or adult users.  CPSC response to our legislators indicated that the Federal Research Action Plan is result of their letter inquiry and the culmination of elevated concern through out the US.

The cancer cases found in Washington State soccer goalies are now being investigated by agencies in Washington (state) to determine whether they represent a cluster linked to synthetic turf.

California’s three-year study (OEHHA) is already under way in which they are evaluating the “potential human health effects associated with use of recycled waste tires in playground and synthetic turf products.”

Connecticut legislature is reviewing a new bill to ban crumb rubber playgrounds across the state.

In Conclusion:

A three-year moratorium will allow time for the current research on synthetic turf and tire-derived surface materials to be carried out.  From the data gathered, scientists and public health professionals will be better able to assess the risks involved in using these materials.  We will continue to monitor this research and its conclusions and wish to communicate it to the relevant town boards. Since there are no known artificial turf fields or playgrounds currently being planned, this moratorium will ensure that the Town of Medway will have ample time to make a considered and informed policy about these materials for the future use.  A vote in favor of this Moratorium would provide our Community the option to avoid the unknown while still improving our recreational facilities.

NEWS: Concord voters approve moratorium on artificial turf

http://concord.wickedlocal.com/article/20160407/NEWS/160406987

By Henry Schwan

April 07. 2016 11:17AM

Concord voters approve moratorium on artificial turf

Voters at Town Meeting have approved a three-year moratorium on artificial turf in Concord.
Article 47 prevents the placement of synthetic turf with crumb rubber infill on any town-owned land.
It doesn’t include pour-in-place surfaces currently in use on running tracks, like the Emerson playground track, and in children’s playgrounds.
The moratorium ends April 18, 2019, and applies to the Concord Public Schools, but does not include Concord-Carlisle High School.
Janet Miller, a member of Grass Fields for Safe Sports, presented Article 47 on the final night of Town Meeting on April 6 at Concord-Carlisle High School. She said the crumb rubber infill, made from tires, includes chemicals that are carcinogens and endocrine disrupters that are especially dangerous to children, because their bodies are still developing.
Lori Gill-Pazaris, a member of the Concord Climate Action Network, urged the town to form a committee to study the health affects of artificial turf on young children, suggesting that the town could possibly place age limits for playing on the surface.
Susan Feinberg said she supported the article, adding, "I don't understand how tires that are regulated by the government because of health risks can show up on fields."
John Boynton, President of Concord-Carlisle at Play, said, “The moratorium is an opportunity to heal wounds from the intense debate.”
Concord-Carlisle at Play has a five-year lease with the Concord-Carlisle Regional School Committee for a $5 million fields’ renovation project at the high school.
The project included the construction of an artificial turf field with crumb rubber that opened in Fall 2015.
"My hope is that, in time, we can all feel good about our young athletes playing on these first class facilities," Boynton said.
Proponents of the ban said the moratorium will allow more time for research on crumb rubber, so scientists and public health officials will be able to access the health risks of synthetic turf.
Town Manager Chris Whelan said no artificial turf fields are planned in town over the three years of the moratorium, and Baker said the moratorium “ensures that Concord will develop informed policy for the future.”
Follow Henry Schwan on Twitter @henrycojo.