Welcome to the Reynolds Field discussion group.

This email/web discussion was started by Hastings Residents concerned about the cost, scale, and environmental impact of the artificial turf and track expansion proposal, as well as its inclusion in a bond issue funding necessary building repairs. While not all members who have joined this email list are against the proposal, the function of this list is both to discuss the proposal and organize resistance.

Questions include
Where will the money come from? Where will cost overruns come from?
If we're spending millions, why not give our kids and town the high quality natural grass that pro athletes prefer?
When overruns occur, which essential school services will be cut to pay for completion of the field?
What is the cost of annual maintenance and additional security?
Is a plastic field in keeping with Hastings values?

While some members of this list - even board members - may offer answers to these questions, those answers may be different than those of other experts looking at this issue.

For a list of towns that have successfully rejected similar proposals, as well as articles about how they did it, see: http://www.synturf.org/sayno.html Unfortunately, in most of those cases it was the Town Council or Board of Trustees that rejected the Board of Education proposal. In our case, and over our objections, the Village Board of Trustees has relinquished its authority over this village property. This means it is up to the village to speak for the village's interests.

(To keep emails to a minimum, this will be a moderated list. Some questions will be answered directly to the questioner rather than the whole group.)

turning off moderation

Douglas Rushkoff