Reginald Underwood visited the Caroline County Recreation Park on a recent Saturday morning and saw a large number of residents enjoying watching their children and grandchildren play soccer.
But Underwood was troubled by something else he saw — caregivers pushing disabled relatives in wheelchairs along the bumpy fields.
“I was very disturbed,” Underwood said.
According to county officials, the park has undergone extensive renovations over the past few years and is now a point of pride among employees in the Public Works Department.
However, Director of Public Utilities Joey Schiebel still sees a couple of areas for improvement.
During a recent board of supervisors meeting, Schiebel recommended that the county invest $2.8 million to transform five soccer/football fields at the park to artificial turf. While the board pledged to continue that discussion at a later meeting, it did vote to authorize Schiebel to potentially spend up to $725,000 to replace lights at the park’s baseball field and to install LED lights at the softball field.
That motion passed 4-1 with Underwood (Reedy Church District) voting against it, and Supervisor Clay Forehand of the Madison District absent.
Supervisor Jeff Sili of the Bowling Green District supported the light replacement and installation but grew aggravated whenever Schiebel or anyone else moved the conversation to artificial turf fields.
“Stop with the synthetic fields,” Sili said. “I want to see a plan with additional fields and stop with the turf because the first thing that comes out of this, the first topic is turf fields … not more fields, not a plan, but turf fields.”
Sili said the county needs to explore expanding the park and adding grass fields. But Schiebel provided information noting that converting to turf would save time and money in the long run. Supervisor Jeff Black of the Western Caroline District also suggested the county start off with one or two artificial turf fields to see how the community responds before moving forward with the others.
“Originally, the thought was let’s look at different fields,” Schiebel said. “When we met with [Parks and Recreation Director Donnell Howard] and staff and we talked more about the fields … if we actually had the fields that were turf, it would drastically improve our playing time. If they had lights on them, they could play for longer periods of time.”
According to a staff memo, Schiebel investigated installing Bermuda grass and found it to be “impractical.” The memo noted that the Sports Field Management Association lists Virginia within the “transitional growth zone for Bermuda grass,” meaning it will perform well under heavy summer use, but in the spring and fall, the SFMA recommends an alternative ground cover.
The organization identified several issues with Bermuda in Virginia, including heavy irrigation requirements, susceptibility to winter-kill from freezing temperatures, shade intolerance leading to turf loss, the need for an intensive annual soil-feeding and fertilization plan, mandatory crowning or sloping of fields to prevent standing water and turf damage, the need to mow every three to four days and high risk of turf loss from play during the dormant period.
The memo stated that “based on these findings, staff sought a superior playing surface to replace fescue, leading to the evaluation of synthetic turf.”
In addition to the durability of the playing surface, Schiebel referenced eight recent studies demonstrating a reduction in severe and overall injuries for synthetic fields compared to natural grass.
Still, not all supervisors are convinced.
“I can probably find 10 studies to say just the opposite,” Underwood said. “That’s the problem.”
Underwood said he would like Schiebel and his staff to develop a concept to redesign the park and discuss turf or natural grass at a later date. He would also like to ensure the park meets Americans with Disability Act standards.
The total cost for facility improvements, including lighting, parking and other miscellaneous items, is estimated at $4.8 million, if the county goes with artificial turf fields. Debt service for a 10-year term is $625,000 per year, $470,000 for 15 years, and $397,000 for 20 years.
Underwood said, in the end, he would like to see a “top-notch” complex using county and school land in the area, which is located off Devils Three Jump Road near the county’s high school and middle school.
“I would like to see us lay out a plan for the parks as we move forward, not necessarily get stuck in the weeds on whether it should be grass or turf,” Underwood said. “But lay out a plan that we will see quality parks within the county for the citizens.”
