A nearly-finished draft of the fields report has been released and it states that Barrington needs to build two new synthetic turf fields. 

The report, created by the consultant team of Traverse Landscape Architects and Tom Irwin Advisors, offers a detailed look at the athletic fields in Barrington and shares a number of recommendations divided into three separate categories — process, improvements, and maintenance. 

It also offers a list of key findings: 

• Barrington’s athletic fields are overused. “…This has lead to a decrease in the playability on fields through the town, limited time for resting fields and an increased demand for maintenance on fields.”

• The registration system used by youth sports leagues is inadequate. “While most leagues attempt to work together, this has lead to frustration and animosity amongst the various leagues. The challenge with the system is that leagues rightfully are registering for more fields than their current needs as the unknown such as weather and emergency maintenance can impact their needs.”

• The town needs to develop a field maintenance program and possibly create a separate fields maintenance crew at the department of public works. “The current challenge is that there are no line items related to maintenance for any of the athletic fields. This ends up creating challenges to appropriately maintain fields within the town.”

• There is limited available land in town. “The majority of land is either developed or environmentally protected. This creates a demand for assessing the fields that the town currently has and developing strategies that can meet the demand of the town,” stated the report. 

Atop the short-term recommendations for field improvements is the construction of two synthetic turf fields. 

Traverse officials recommend Victory Field, the stadium field at Barrington High School, be converted to synthetic turf. They also called for synthetic turf to be installed at St. Andrew’s Farm Field.

“Converting these fields would allow for the resting and needed maintenance of other fields throughout the community,” stated the report. 

Town is five fields short

Art Eddy, a principal with Traverse, shared a presentation at the Barrington Town Council meeting on Monday, Dec. 4. 

Eddy summarized much of the findings shared in the report. He spoke about field usage and highlighted the high school as an example. 

Eddy said Barrington High School has about a dozen fields, including five large rectangular fields. But, he added, three of those fields overlap with other sports fields, placing additional strain on the playing surfaces. Essentially, all of the fields at BHS are being used all of the time, he said. 

Eddy said the work conducted by Traverse and Tom Irwin Advisors found that Barrington is 2.75 fields short, based on field usage alone. He said the town needs an additional two fields in order to allow periodic resting of fields. 

Eddy said the town needs a total of five fields to meet current demands. He added that it was the opinion of the consultant team that field conditions in Barrington cannot improve without the addition of a synthetic turf field. 

Eddy said the town needs to build good grass fields also, “and synthetic turf (fields) is a mechanism to build good grass fields.”

He said that installing synthetic turf at Victory Field would alleviate the stress placed on the natural grass fields. 

Council member Rob Humm said the high school teams would have priority usage of Victory Field. He asked how the town could help youth teams.

Eddy said that was why the consultants recommend installing synthetic turf at St. Andrew’s Farm Field. 

The need for synthetic turf fields in Barrington is a message echoed in the report.

“Due to the current field usage study of current user groups, the limited amount of space available for field expansion, and the growing demands of organizations, the community should build a synthetic turf field,” stated the report. 

Field maintenance

Eddy told members of the Barrington Town Council that the town needs a dedicated field maintenance crew.

That would be a shift from the current situation at the Barrington DPW. Eddy said the DPW works hard on the fields and is passionate about the work. But, he added, they are often pulled in many different directions. 

A dedicated field maintenance crew would address that situation, Eddy said. 

Council member Kate Berard said she noticed that Barrington’s fields received Ds or Fs in the report grading. She said it was important to note that the DPW prepares the athletic fields for the school department in addition to the town programs. She listed some of the tasks the DPW is responsible for handling and added that they need more workers. Humm later agreed with Berard, and asked Eddy for a fuller description of what that field maintenance crew might look like. 

The report shared additional key information about field maintenance: “A regular maintenance program including resting periods as outlined should be implemented to enhance the playability of existing natural turf surfaces in the short term.

“The DPW is providing a wide range of services internally that has reduced overall costs (to) the community for the maintenance and has adapted maintenance programs that benefit the town. The current challenge is that there are no line items related to maintenance for any of the athletic fields. This ends up creating challenges to appropriately maintain fields within the town.”

Eddy said the field maintenance program should work in coordination with the scheduling for fields. The two areas need to work hand-in-hand, Eddy said. 

As for scheduling, Eddy said there are a number of software programs available. He said the town should start small with the incorporation of new field scheduling software. He said someone, possibly an assistant recreation director, should oversee management of the software. 

The report lists some of the problems with the current scheduling system. It states that the current system does not account for actual usage and demand. 

“It accounts for in season use which rightfully creates a time grab by organizations. If they don’t grab the time someone else will creating a false indicator of demand.”

Alternatives

The report shares possible alternatives to installing synthetic turf at Victory Field and/or St. Andrew’s Farm Field. One of the alternatives is a hybrid system, where synthetic fibers are stitched into the existing natural grass fields. The hybrid systems can be used across an entire field, stated the report, or in high-use areas. 

During the meeting, Humm mentioned that some cities and towns are building synthetic turf fields atop landfills. He asked if Barrington could do that, constructing a turf field atop the capped landfills at Lower Chianese. 

Eddy said that would be challenging as a well head protection area covers Lower Chianese, resulting in drainage issues and other complications. 

Humm asked if Traverse would consider installing synthetic turf at the middle school athletic fields. He said that even though those fields are new they are already “beaten up.”

Eddy said the installation of synthetic turf at Victory Field and one additional field would alleviate the stress and pressure placed on the other natural grass surfaces. He said a synthetic turf Victory Field could reconcile a lot of the existing problems at other fields. 

Public comments

A few people spoke during the public comment portion of the fields discussion. Aaron Aguiar is an official with Barrington Little League. He addressed sections of the report that called for large baseball diamond at Haines Park to be converted to a rectangular multi-use field, and for Nayatt School baseball fields to be converted to grass fields. The report also recommended converting one of the baseball fields at Sowams School into a softball field. 

Aguiar said Barrington Little Leagues needs all of the fields it currently has. He said the league struggles each season to accommodate all the needed space. He also mentioned that the middle school is adding a softball team, which will result in additional scheduling challenges. 

Thomas “TR” Rimoshytus said he’s been involved in the field improvement process for 20 years. He hybrid would cost more than synthetic turf fields. He also asked if officials considered moving the baseball diamond from Chianese to back field at Haines Park, replacing the current plan to build a multi-use field there. That would free up Chianese for a synthetic turf field, Rimoshytus said. 

Josh Glass asked pressed officials on why synthetic turf could not be installed atop the Chianese landfill fields. Eddy said there would need to be a lot of work on additional drainage system structures, due to the well-head protection designation.

Motion made

Later in the discussion, Humm made a motion that included a number of requests for Traverse officials.

He asked for details about the scheduling software (how it works, how much it would cost, how it would be staffed, and the general time commitment. 

He asked for specifics about a dedicated field maintenance crew — how many workers would be needed, the costs, the tasks and whether it would be an in-house DPW crew or an external contractor. 

He asked for cost details on synthetic turf at Victory Field and St. Andrew’s Farm Field. For Victory Field, he asked estimates include the replacement of the existing surface, as well as an estimate for reconstructing the track and field dimensions, and installing new lights. 

He asked for cost details on synthetic turf at middle and lower Chianese fields (and to include lights). 

He asked for cost details on synthetic turf at the Barrington Middle School fields, and synthetic turf along a separate section of the high school property (abutting County Road). 

He asked for cost details to include synthetic turf, hybrid, and natural grass rebuilt fields. 

And Humm asked that Traverse include an action plan with steps the town could take. 

That motion passed 5-0. 

Humm also made a motion to refer the report to the Park and Recreation Commission for their comments and feedback. That motion passed 5-0. 

Eddy told Council members that he plans to have a final draft of the report ready for the January meeting.