On Thursday night, members of the Barrington Town Council and School Committee appeared to finalize a “Memorandum Of Understanding” that details the use agreement for a new synthetic turf field at Barrington Middle School. 

While terms of the agreement are just a few signatures away from being cemented, the project itself still needs voter approval. 

There are two ballot questions regarding synthetic turf fields: Question 9 asks for authorization to install a synthetic turf field at the middle school, while Question 10 opens the door to install a synthetic turf field on “municipally controlled land” as an alternative to the middle school. 

Now, following Thursday night’s joint meeting, there are clear rules dictating everything from maintenance of the new field to the scheduling for shared use of the facility. 

In fact, the schedule was the first sticking point — about 30 minutes of time separated the Town Council and School Committee. 

Councilors pointed to an earlier discussion where officials said Barrington Middle School teams would have priority use of the new field on weekdays from the end of school at 3:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and from 8:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. Barrington youth sports leagues would have priority use from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. The youth sports leagues would have priority use on weekends, Councilors stated.

In a written document, school officials shifted the times slightly — from 3:15 until 6 p.m. on weekdays and removing priority use for youth sports leagues on weekends. 

Barrington Town Council member Rob Humm said he was surprised to see the change offered by the School Committee. 

After some back and forth, School Committee member TJ Peck acknowledged the earlier language of the agreement. He also referenced the phrase, “In the case of a conflict…” as it is expected that the school district’s director of athletics and the town’s recreation director will work together in an effort to accommodate the various needs and requests. 

During the discussion, Committee member Megan Douglas suggested that middle school students should not be practicing at 8:30 p.m. or later. Humm said that it is not unprecedented to have youth sports leagues practice later than 8:30 p.m. He added that middle school students are, for the most part, older than those who play in local youth sports leagues. 

Eventually, the two groups agreed on the 5:30 p.m. time and also weekend priority for youth sports leagues, as well as including the phrase, “In the event of a conflict…”