The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) Committee is looking for more donations to fund the lawsuit with the Oak Bluffs planning board over the proposed athletics field construction project.
The high school committee convened on Friday morning before Christmas weekend in response to the Oak Bluffs planning board’s split decision to appeal the athletics field decision from the Massachusetts Land Court.
This lawsuit was over the planning board’s denial of the school committee’s request for a special permit, citing concerns of a group of chemicals known to cause health issues called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — commonly known as PFAS. The land court had sided with the school in the ruling, citing a state law known as the Dover Act, which gives special protections to projects with an educational component.
Brian Winner, who is representing the school in this case, briefly updated the committee that he received the appeal notice on Thursday. Winner recommended entering into executive session to discuss how to proceed with the appeal and litigation strategy.
“That is something that is much more traditionally discussed in executive session, and there are a couple of comments I would like to make that would be appropriate for that,” he said.
The committee voted 5-1 to enter into executive session for further discussion and strategizing. Committee member Robert Lionette was the sole dissenting vote.
After reopening the public session, committee chair Kathryn Shertzer made a statement regarding the suit. “Regardless of the planning board’s notice to appeal … we are enthusiastically moving forward, supported by the land court’s decision, protected by the Dover Amendment,” she said.
When Shertzer asked about the school’s finances in the lawsuit, MVRHS Finance Director Suzanne Cioffi reminded the committee that Winner’s services the past few months were funded by two donations made in July, totaling $5,000. After the invoices that were paid since August, alongside two pending invoices totalling $900 that will be paid this month, the school will have $225 remaining from the $5,000 donation. This calculation did not factor in Winner’s time during the meeting on Friday morning.
Donations were used to fund legal services, since the school committee had voted not to allocate additional funding to the current fiscal year’s budget to fund the lawsuit after facing resistance during the spring town meeting season. Additionally, voters from Aquinnah, Chilmark, and West Tisbury voted for a nonbinding resolution to ask the school not to accept anonymous donations over $5,000.
Shertzer pointed out that the school could still receive donations to pay for legal fees in facing the appeal.
“It’s not beneath me to ask for it,” she said, pointing out that many people are looking for tax benefits by making donations at the end of the year. “There it is: I put it out there both to the universe and the public.”
Committee member Skipper Manter pointed out that the school could not advance actions that were discussed during executive session, which were not disclosed during the public meeting, until more funds were received.
Cioffi said even if donations are received, the school will not be able to use the funds until they are publicly accepted during a meeting, the next one being on Jan. 8.
“So we just wait,” committee member Mike Watts said, adding that the school could not commit to funds it did not have.
I keep wondering, and I keep asking,
why is it so imperative to have a turf field ?
What is the benefit?
It’s 500,000 pounds of unrecyclable plastic
and rubber that will have to be replaced in 10 years.
It will result in more injuries.
It is disgustingly unsanitary.
it is not cheaper than grass.
PFAS possible ( but I don’t think so)
Microplastic contamination is inevitable
The cost to return the field back to grass should
we find out this is not what it’s cracked up to
be — and what is that actually ? —will be
astronomical. There will be no life under there
after 10 years. We know about biomes. you can’t
just throw some grass seed down and expect it
to grow after being covered with plastic for 10
years. This is an irrevocable boondoggle.
In a previous post , I mentioned the word “bribe”.
I won’t mention it again, given the hostility that
I got kicked back at me for that.
So I wonder if the school board could give us
a better word as to why they are so committed
to this ?
I couldn’t have said it better! Thank you!
Seriously!? Spend your time, energy and fund raising on bettering our buildings and services for the entire student body.
Susan. What do you think the annual budget process is? It is the annual needs of the school balanced by what taxpayers can stomach. The school committee does this openly and publicly every single year. If you think that tax dollars spent on education and building maintenance are inadequate you should show up and increase everyone’s taxes more. Islanders would gladly pay more. The track project is to be 100% privately funded per the MVC. I am not sure how they get to dictate how something is paid for but here we are. I guess they had the insight to put it on private donors and protect themselves from the public ire at the time of re-election.
This so called “privately funded” project has already cost us taxpayers a bomb. The “private” funding is only for the installation, in any case. Then we’re stuck with the cost of maintaining this environmental horror show.
I do not understand how the school committee wants to pursue something that could possibly threaten our water supply that is already threatened by some much already. Drought for one,
we have no other water supply, the one being threatened by the school.
Please reconsider this action.
James, when you understand the people who voted for the School Committee you will understand what the School Committee is pursuing.
Please reconsider who you voted for School Committee.
Please reconsider your lack of participation in the political process.
Albert, you may want to research who sits on what committees before calling people out for lack of political participation. I know James sits on, I believe, the planning board in West Tisbury. Which is an elected position. What elected positions have you held on island?
Should we start having bake sales in the previous location of the Linden tree? Thank you, Town of Tisbury, the holiday decorations are beautiful, especially the tree, so meticulously decorated, in the Linden Tree Park.
Is it asking too much for this committee to abandon its obsession with a field of non-recyclable plastic and (get ready to clutch your pearls), consider that tried and true alternative called “natural grass” ?
Natural grass, a product of nature, has more than served humanity for it’s recreational needs for millenia.
This unseemly begging for donations is sure to benefit only the lawyers. It is long past the time to set aside this arrogant insistence on a field of plastic and plant a few seeds.
It is only non recycle-able because you say so. Unfortunately not true. Also. With the town appealing now the school is defending the judgement it received. Always amusing how it is always the school in the wrong. Lawyer told the town they were wrong. Judge told the town 2x they were out of bounds and after 3x the town is now costing the school money. Sounds a bit like a petulant child pestering a parent. You may want grass, but how about calling out the petulant adult.
Patti —
This from a company
that claims it can recycle and/or
“repurpose” about 80% of the material.
That leaves about 100,000 pounds
of “stuff” from this one field
that can’t be recycled by the most
advanced technology we have.
https://themotzgroup.com/sport_blog/greener-days-ahead-now-you-can-recycle-your-synthetic-turf-field/
This from a less financially
motivated organization.
Due to increased rate of installation of
artificial turf fields, the disposal of artificial
turf fields will become a greater nightmare
as the world begins to retire in ever greater
numbers the defective and old fields
http://www.synturf.org/disposal.html
And this from the worlds’ leading recycler
of turf fields — based in the Netherlands,
that will partner with Cyclyx International and
ExxonMobil to establish what it says is the
first program in the United States to
chemically recycle artificial grass.
But they don’t say when.
https://www.plasticstoday.com/advanced-recycling/first-chemical-recycling-program-for-synthetic-turf-launched-in-us
Also note that word “chemically”.
This is what is currently happening to
the great majority of them
https://www.ydr.com/in-depth/news/2019/11/18/old-artificial-turf-fields-pose-huge-waste-problem-environmental-concerns-across-nation/2314353001/
It will certainly get better as the technology
evolves, but it doesn’t look all that great now.
I Have grandchildren. I don’t think so.
Natural fertilizers, natural herbicides, natural pesticides, natural hydrocarbons for the mowing machines. It’s time to get back to nature.
There are no no absolutes.
Artificial turf is generally made out of one of three materials:
Nylon
Polyethylene
Polypropylene
. . . All of which are welcomed in recycling facilities.
Artificial turf infill and padding, on the other hand, tend to be made of:
Latex
Polyurethane
Sand
Fabric
Glue
Rubber
Some of these may be recyclable, while others are not. Keep your materials list safe so when it comes to recycling your turf, you have a plan of where to send it.
The only down side of artificial is how much water it takes it to keep it alive…sarc.
Maybe y’all should listen to the courts decision and work with a university to divert water run off to be filtered. Myself and other residents have been saying…..Stop wasting funds! The kids need to be as competitive as off island ..please stop acting like this is the only thing environmentally hurting the island … you are only hurting our kids
Sara– divert water and filter it ? sounds
expensive to me.
But to your point of making the kids
“as competitive as off island” .
In my mind, that implies that the turf
fields are more difficult to play on.
One indicator of that is that
injury rates are higher across the board
on turf fields.
Presumably, half of the games the Vineyarders
play are on home turf. Perhaps the Vineyarders
have an advantage on their home games.
And as far as the environmental effects,
just because we have a number of environmental
problems here does not justify adding another one.
I can’t recall anyone saying the Vineyard was free
of environmental problems, and this would be our
first one.
Has anyone asked the students what they think about this fight? Do they want this turf? Are they concerned with being that iota more competitive on the field or is it the parents driving this? Given that turf fields cause more injuries, what parent wants to increase the risk of their child being hurt?
The argument to install it is essentially, “more competitiveness”.
The arguments against it is a long list, with environmental damage at the top.
Respectfully, “competitiveness” is not the only argument, and is probably way down on the list. First, let’s not forget about just having a real track. Second, the reason the majority of high schools have synthetic turf is that it is cost effective. It requires significantly less maintenance (resources)to maintain and can be used over and over again in a given day. Grass cannot. 1 Football game on grass during a rain storm would ruin the field for all other teams for the remainder of the season no matter how good the grass is.
The usual suspects on the street and in this paper with the same rock solid opinions. They will never stop believing and now it seems even the court verdict is wrong. So 1 persons manipulations keeps the game going and the press type running. How do I contribute to this worthy cause that has brought great reading and fun for all of us the last 8 years? We all should help them as it is a small price to pay for the enjoyment this diss function brings.
Giving more money to lawyers is surely not the answer. Hasn’t anyone learned that yet? Why not a simple ballot. In one day is it over, no expenses, Final.
That’s too logical for the proponents of this
illogical train wreck to even consider.
Giving more money to your lawyer usually results in a better outcome. Divorce is a good example. In criminal it works even better. Guilty or innocent, Public Defenders don’t much care about the outcome.
Not sure how an attack on public defenders found its way into the athletic field discussion, but anyone who actually understands the work our public defenders do, for shockingly low wages, would never say they “don’t much care about the outcome.” Public Defenders are heroes of our criminal justice system. They should be honored, not attacked.
Public defenders are lawyers, usually young and inexperienced. Often it is the highest paid work they can get.
Some are heroes.
Now that it’s years beyond asking for the voters opinion (at the polls, not just through our newspapers) it seems more and more likely that more and more lawyers will make more and more money and the voters apparently seem unqualified to decide.
Pretty petty and still it goes on and on. Can’t we just stop and find better ways to spend money?! Better than lawyers, better than questionable turf?
I’m giving my donation to Harbor Homes, a much better investment, in my opinion.
The voters have been giving their opinion at the polls for years. That is why we we have the the office holders we do. We the people have spoken. We don’t like what we are hearing.
Insanity.
Try telling Ewell Hopkins, he is the one who has driven this law suit from the start. The MVRHS school board didn’t appeal the judges decision, Ewell Hopkins did.
Ewell Hopkins made this decision all on his own?
Fair point. This is a five member board, which chooses its own chair. The first time that Hopkins posted pictures to social media wearing a Field Fund t-shirt while the matter was under consideration by the board, his impartiality could have been questioned. When the chair of the Select Board requested that Hopkins recuse himself for being too personally involved, and Hopkins refused to do so, this crisis of leadership could have been addressed. When the chair introduced a procedure for renaming town streets, which was subsequently employed by the Chair of the Board of Health to ask for a street to be named after his daughter while his board was entertaining a turf moratorium, several questions could have been raised. If this latest maneuver doesn’t spur Erik Albert to action, then I can’t imagine what will. They all own this now.
I don’t get why people are going on and on about this. It’s just a field. Why waste time and energy on it? The money should be put into academics and the arts; they matter more in the grand scheme. That all this is over a field is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
The class President of 2021 Mr. Neville spoke about the wishes of the students as he was departing the school during graduation. Please feel free to watch his remarks regarding this project. They were poignant and well spoken . In fact I believe he did a survey and in 2021 a majority of students wanted this project to move forward. Our campus has approx 50-60 % of athletes. By the way they are not just athletes, they are also into the arts, music, and academics. Why must we just focus on arts and academics. We definitely need a new track. The lifespan on the one being used is short.
Now let’s talk title nine. Girls field hockey gets to play on grass which is substandard for their sport. They never play under the lights or on the football field because their sticks would tear it up. A turf field would provide equality amongst the teams. And yes perhaps a chance to play in college. There are three divisions in college, it’s nice to have the skill set that might allow you to play in one of the divisions and turf allows for those skill sets needed for college. Especially for field hockey.
Injuries. Off the top of my head I can think of numerous kids who have needed knee surgeries while playing on our fields. I can count concussions, I can count ankle injuries. I don’t have the data but I guess the school is lucky it hasn’t been sued.
I say this because it’s time to talk G-max ratings of our school Fields. G-max rating signify the hardness of a field the harder the field the more dangerous. I wonder when has the school tested for that. Those that are wondering how safe turf fields are should also perhaps be concerned today about the G-max ratings of our fields this minute and perhaps start fundraising because my guess and it’s just a guess our fields are not safe and all injuries happening on them could be a result of the g-Max rating which may or may not have ever been done.
Anyway,
There is more to turf fields than just turf fields. There is more to grass fields than just grass. Both sides have Ernest positions. I remain hopeful this get resolved and we start to build something for our kids.
There is more to high school than just academics and the arts and we provide nicely for the arts now let’s get going for the athletes.
You win 😇 thank you for changing my mind.
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