photo by Boyd Loving
Reader says Predictable, predicted, horrendous
This will be the LAST storm ever, though…right?
Another $119,865 to repair 2 turfed fields + $48,000 for turf on Maple Field (no longer Park, so let’s admit it and change the name). Plus who-knows-what in change orders.
Deductible is $25,000! That must have been somebody’s great idea to save money on the insurance.
We are going to go broke over this fiasco. It even failed a referendum but it happened anyway. Sickening waste. Meanwhile people are literally starving all over the world.
The turf MUST GO. It’s either now or later. Now is better. But nobody can admit to making a mistake. Well, this was a huge one.
August 7, 2014
BY JODI WEINBERGER
STAFF WRITER
Bubbles pop up on the Ridgewood High School field after a quick but powerful rainstorm led to flash flooding throughout the village last Friday.
Last Friday’s flash flood is costing the school district and municipality hundreds of thousands of dollars in cleanup costs.
The Board of Education (BOE) received authorization from the Bergen County Department of Education this week to award a bid to LandTek for $119,865 for “emergency repair” of two district-owned artificial turf fields.
Business Administrator Michael Falkowski said there was “extensive” damage at Ridgewood High School and Stevens fields following the Aug. 1 storm and that the playing grounds are “not useable” in their current state.
The money will come out of the 2015 district budget and possibly an emergency reserve fund, he said.
“This is just for the fields,” Falkowski said. “There’s other work that needs to be done,” including general cleanup of the area.
It rained for 20 minutes last Friday. What’s gonna happen when we get a soaker that lasts for 2 days…?
Good point. It was the sports group that pushed it through because they were going to pay for most of it. People questioned ongoing maintenance costs and it was never addressed. People questioned flooding and it was ignored.
How much has The sports coalition paid?
Go back to grass and let these phony sports people pay the bill, put your money where your mouth is.
Get some cars and school Buses that become boats might help.
At least the fields will be usable this fall season. Had they simply been grass, they would have been unplayable for the majority of the season, forcing all sports teams to play away games every week.
Fast Eddie and Captain Jack perpetrated this scam…..got to have soccer on the turf in front of the RHS facade.
Captain Jack sold his house 2MM and no longer lives in town.
When the stadium field was grass, I think the only use was for football and graduation. Since the turf was put in, both that field and Stevens are used year round by many different groups. The upside is tremendous for the various programs at the high school and around town.
A grass field would need repairs after a flood so it could be used by only one team.
The repairs to the turf field will benefit multiple sports and activities, multiple teams and a significant number of student-athletes.
I did not care about the benefit of the sports programs. That is a lot of money and I would have preferred educational programs. All students should benefit.
Once the HS field was turfed it became a 12 hour per day sports venue. Let the youth programs go elsewhere. Go to the bubble in Waldwick. We do not owe you fields.
what a big waste. we laid off workers to pay for fake grass. what is the bord of ed thinking of.
I’d like to know how much has been spent on turf repair due to flooding since it’s installation? I bet the numbers will be shocking. Either install some type of drainage system or rip it up and replace with grass.
#5 Real teams can play on any type of field. Let the kids get dirty! Fake grass is a no no. Face it, a big waste of money. I grew up in Ridgewood and played sports right on the present High School field and never once did any of the players complain about a little mud or dust. What a bunch of cry babies.. I agree, let the sports association who wanted the fake stuff pay for the repairs
#10 – I estimate close to $500K…we need help filling in the dollar amounts for these dates:
– October 1, 2010 (there was wrinkling of the carpet then and in all the other events below)
– March 8, 2011
– April 17, 2011
– Jun 23, 2011 (graduation)
– August 29, 2011 (Irene)
– August 1, 2014
Sandy didn’t cause a lot of flooding. It was more of a wind event
We’ve had minor flooding many other times, but not to the scale above