Glen Rock BOE Awards Bid to Reconstruct HS Baseball Field

The Glen Rock school board on Thursday awarded the contractor finishing its $4.5 million athletic complex project a bid to also remodel the high school baseball field.

New York-based Turco Golf, which has drawn mixed reviews for delays and large change orders on the larger turf and drainage project, will be performing the baseball field work at a price of $365,000.

Subject to weather, work to the baseball field is expected to begin on March 1 and be completed by April 1.

According to the district, updages include:

• "Use of stockpiled extra soil for the existing baseball field, including expansion of right field area, eliminating the cost of moving the soil off site.
• Re-grading of the entire baseball field to smooth indentations and irregularities
• Removal and replacement of all fencing – dugouts, backstop, baseline and outfield
• All new clay infield, pitching mound and batter’s box
• Grass sod infield and outfield
• New sprinkler system
• Relocation of existing scoreboard
• Miscellaneous other items: new foul poles, site preparation including new grading and grass seed for non-baseball field areas consistent with the All Purpose Field and the Lower Field"

Though connected to the main project, the funding for the baseball field upgrades will be drawn out of the capital outlay fund. Costs cannot exceed a taxpayer-passed referendum and with the main project currently is just a hair under the $4.5 million budget, a $365,000 project would not be possible.

Turco Golf's winning bid to add turf to two fields, implement a drainage system and add other niceties to the shoddy high school complex rose substantially over the $3.5 million mark after finding "unsuitable" soil at the multi-purpose field.

School board president Rona McNabola said she doesn't expect issues to arise with baseball field improvements.

"The kind of project this is, the only thing that would cause an issue is if we requested changes," McNabola told Patch. About half or more of the cpaital outlay set aside – $800,000 – is expected to return to the fund, she said.

The lowest bid received for the baseball field work on Wednesday was deemed to be unqualified. Trino Associates did not have the proper credentials to perform the work, according to district documents.

To allow the grass sod on the baseball field to stabilize, soccer, football and lacrosse will not be permitted to use the baseball field in 2013, the district said.

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