Schools OK design work
By Jeff Gallatin
Bay Village
Published Dec. 6, 2006

School district officials are taking steps to put Bay Village athletic teams on solid footing again.

By a 4-0 margin, the Board of Education approved an agreement Nov. 27 with the Cleveland area firm Lee Behnke and Associates to provide professional design services for the Bay athletic stadium field for $24,750. Carol Pancoast was absent, but district officials and other board members all said it was a move in the right direction.

Although the move does not commit the school district to an artificial playing surface for the field, it puts it much closer to that kind of surface or getting major improvements to a grass field.

“We can’t keep going the way we have been the last couple of years,” said District Superintendent Clint Keener. “We have got to do something which will improve our athletic fields because they’ve become a big concern. This doesn’t mean for certain we will put in artificial turf, but this study will give us some good guidance as to how we should proceed.”

Board President Bill Selong said he’s pleased that Behnke and Associates will be doing the work.

“They have a lot of experience with athletic fields, particularly in the northern Ohio area,” Selong said. “They did a great job with the Rocky River stadium field and they’ve done several other schools around the Cleveland area, so they know what it takes to get in a surface which can meet the needs of a school district and community programs. We’ve had an awful lot of problems with the field recently and we want to get those problems dealt with.”

Board Vice President Amy Huntley stopped short of wanting to commit to an artificial playing surface but said it would meet the needs of the district.

“I’d like to see something like that or a couple of playing fields with at least one artificial surface,” she said. “We just want to make sure we have the best possible information, so we went for this agreement.”

In its proposal letter, Behnke and Associates said it would have prepared a proposal for services related to design work on a proposed synthetic turf playing field which would be located within the existing track at the Bay stadium.

“We understand the scope of the work includes developing drawings and specifications, suitable for bidding, for the removal of the existing natural turf playing field and the installation of a new synthetic turf playing field,” Behnke officials said in the Nov. 21 letter.

Company officials said that the district would provide the firm with current site survey information in a digital format that could be utilized.

Huntley said district officials want to make sure everything is done right.

“A new playing surface is a big undertaking,” she said. “Plus, there have been soil remediation issues at the new police station and the middle school in the last few years. So we wanted to make sure there is adequate information and a solid proposal for doing the study and whatever work we ultimately decide to do.”

Officials said they will get the work from Behnke and decide on a course of action as quickly as possible.

“Obviously, we’d like to get all this done soon,” she said. “But we want to make sure that we have the right information and proposal so that we can move forward and get the best possible situation.”

Mayor Debbie Sutherland said the city is supportive of the district’s efforts.

“Obviously, it’s been an issue of great interest and concern in the city,” Sutherland said. “We’re glad the district is taking steps to take care of  the field since it’s important to school and recreational activities in the city.”