Schools

Heat Could Delay Aaron Decker Field Project

Soccer club president said expert advised not to sod field during extreme heat.

Extreme heat may cause a delay in a field sodding project at the Aaron Decker School that was discussed earlier this week by the . The board agreed Monday to allow the superintendent to move forward, at his discretion, with an agreement with the B&B United Soccer Club for the club to pay roughly $14,000 to repair the field this summer, but club president Ray Yazdi said Thursday the project may have to be delayed until November.

Yazdi said the field experts the club is consulting on the project have advised that if sod is placed on the field in such high heat, there is a chance it will not stick. Yazdi said, for a project that will cost thousands of dollars, he feels that it may not be worth the risk to begin the project early.

"At this point, we're going to take the expert's advice instead of trying to rush it," he said.

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On Monday, Skip Felano, a coach with B&B and a member of the field committee the club has formed to examine field usage opportunities, spoke to the Butler Board of Education, thanking them for allowing the club to move forward on the project.

Several board members agreed that the field is in need of repair. Superintendent Mario Cardinale also thanked Felano and B&B for their contributions to the field.

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"This is a field that's been in need of repair for such a long time," said Board Member Heather Grecco.

Yazdi said that while the club is working to contribute money to the conditioning of the fields now, the ultimate goal of the club is to eventually take ownership of the field, maintaining it and using it as its home.

As of Monday, Felano said the club wanted to move quickly with the project so that the field might be able to be used in the fall. But since then, Yazdi said the heat may cause delays. Yazdi said that if the sod is put on the field in the fall, the field will have the opportunity to absorb it over the winter and field will likely be ready for playing in the spring.

"If you lay it down now, you're taking a chance," he said. "It may not be a good idea yet."

On Monday, the board also agreed to put $150,000 of an additional $193,792 in last week in One of the capital improvement projects briefly discussed at the meeting was the possibility of more improvements to the Aaron Decker School field, in addition to the improvements B&B is planning, although the board did not decide on any projects that night.

Yazdi, a Bloomingdale resident, has also been an advocate for the at the , which the Bloomingdale Council decided to . That project was expected to cost about $394,000, although the borough had received approval for a New Jersey Green Acres Program loan that would have had the borough making payments spread out over 20 years coming from the borough's Recreation and Open Space Establishment (ROSE) Fund.

The council majority felt the nearly $400,000 lighting project was too costly and that voters should decide if they feel the money should be taken out of the ROSE Fund, which Bloomingdale taxpayers contribute to annually, for the project.

Yazdi has been advocating for the improvements to that field to provide usage for the club and children of the borough, but Yazdi said that improvements to the Walter T. Bergen School field and Aaron Decker School field are two separate issues and that with the Aaron Decker School field, the club is able to work with the school district, which he said is eager to collaborate.

"Right now we have no control over the Walter T. Bergen School field. The town has total control," Yazdi said. "In Butler, the board is willing to give us some control."

Yazdi added, "We're working with them because they're working with us."

Regardless of which fields will be used in the fall, Yazdi said the club, which currently has over 300 signed up participants, will have its opening games in early September. There is still time to sign up to participate in the B&B United Soccer Club. Those interested can sign up here.


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