>Dan
I read your emails to Tom with great interest and frankly disbelief.
It is incredible that you can write that “we do not have crumb rubber on our fields.” Every parent of a child that has played on these fields would be amazed to hear that all the crumb rubber that has been tracked in since these surfaces were opened did not come from the fields and will want to know exactly where the kids have been picking up all that shredded tire stuff. Of course the fields have crumb rubber. This was a major point of discussion with the DEP when you applied for permits. There are three very large sacks of crumb rubber over by the right of way near Stevens. Perhaps you misunderstood the question.
I am very concerned that you have further taken a “hands off” attitude toward the situation that the BOE’s project has created. You tell Tom that the “RHS fields are closed”, presumably because it is unsafe to use these fields until they have been cleaned. This sound reasonable given that we do not know what pollutants the flood has deposited on the artificial turf surface the BOE installed. As the owner of the fields, the BOE has decided that closure is necessary to protect the public. However, you then say it’s not your problem because “we do not have the resources to post people to police the area”. In private industry, the owner of a project that has a major public safety issue is also responsible for enforcing that decision. Failure to do so exposes the owner to damages if someone is hurt. To summarize, as the owner of the fields the BOE has determined that it is unsafe to use them, but aside from telling the Village of your decision, you do not propose to do anything to protect the public? As a taxpayer, I certainly hope that no one is injured this weekend due to the BOE’s negligence. I might suggest that you somehow cordon off the fields with yellow tape, provide signage as to the fact they are closed and access is forbidden and consider stationing a custodian over the weekend to prevent their use.
When these fields were proposed and the DEP permits were sought, you personally assured the public that the construction of artificial turf surfaces in the flood plain would not pose a major problem. A number of the neighbors tried to point out the questionable basis for these comments. Even damage from a minor flood such as the one that occurred last night seriously belie your position.
As you can see, I have copied the press, Village Council and BOE members on this correspondence in the hope that they will find your responses as questionable as I have.
Regards
Jim Morgan
