FARMINGTON — RSU 9 directors voted 8-3 Tuesday to uphold the administration’s decision to not allow teams to use a new practice field at the Mt. Blue Campus.

Directors Bob Flick of Farmington, Betsey Hyde of Temple and Jennifer Zweig-Hebert of Starks opposed the vote. The weighted vote calculated to 557-148, Superintendent Mike Cormier said.

The high school and playing fields are in the second-phase of undergoing construction in a nearly $65 million renovation, addition project. The playing fields are being built. The practice field already is built but needs more time to develop a root system. Teams are using alternative places to practice and compete.

The project’s architect firm, PDT Architects, recommended against using the practice field off Seamon Road.

Architect Lyndon Keck wrote in the firm’s recommendation “It is their professional opinion that the new grass is not ready for excessive, hard use, especially by school sports teams wearing cleats.

“New grass takes two or more years to establish good root growth. People often get onto athletic fields far too early because the top shoots of grass look green and healthy but the real vulnerability is the root system, which takes two to three years to properly mature and resist damage from excessive wear and tear,” Keck wrote.

The field has not been watered regularly, except for natural sources, because the new well at the site has no power. CMP needs to run power to the site. The field also needs to be reseeded and fertilized.

Keck wrote that at this stage, the firm would only recommend gym classes be allowed to use the field and with only tennis shoes; no spikes or cleats. Cormier said the chemicals to be used on the field would need to be checked out to see if the field is safe for student use.

Prior to the vote, parents and Mt. Blue High School football team captain Zak Kendall requested the team be able to use the field for practice. They said the field at the Academy Hill School, which is also a baseball field, is rough in some areas and that there were at least two accidents on the students’ ride in personal vehicles back to the high school in Farmington. There also were injuries when players fell in the gravel and the unevenness of the field, they said.

They cited the easy walking district from the high school to the practice field as the best option to keep players safe. They also spoke of recommendations from two professionals in the district towns that the field was ready to play on. Contractor Kevin Vining had also said he was willing to make any repairs necessary if the field was ruined by students practicing, parents said.

The district had provided a bus to the Wilton school last year but players had to find their own transportation back to Farmington or home.

“We are putting over 60 teenagers on the road to Wilton,” parent Cyndi Pratt told the board. She said they would be safer if they only had to walk down the sidewalk to the practice field.

There would be about 20 hard practices, not counting other practice use, she said.

Kendall said there was dirt in the middle of the Wilton field. At times players have to focus more on where they are running than playing, he said.

“We are really asking for a chance to use the field,” he said. “Our intention is not ruin the practice field.”

Football players are willing to help fix the field and stop using it if it starts to get ruined, Kendall said.

“We are just looking for a chance to have a home football field,” he said.

Cormier said the district would provide bus transportation to and from the Wilton field from the high school. He also said they would make the Wilton field safer for players.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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