Athletic Field Forum Addresses Concerns, Possibilities

Residents discussed everything from Native American ceremonial stone landscapes to a drastic need for new facilities Wednesday night during a public forum about proposed athletic fields at Wayland Middle School.

Representatives from Tighe & Bond joined members of Wayland’s Recreation Commission Wednesday night to present the results of a feasibility study that examined the possibility of constructing one or two athletic fields on Wayland Middle School property.

Brad Mezquita of Tighe & Bond said the firm took into account stormwater runoff, existing soils and field orientation in relation to the sun to come up with two, single field options and one, double field option.

Any of the options, Mezquita said, would require some amount of grading to a nearby knoll, which significantly raises the price for the project. Mezquita estimated that constructing a single field would cost about $.5 million and two fields would cost about $1.4 million.

At April Town Meeting, residents approved $75,000 to conduct a field analysis of the WMS area. In a description of the article, which was amended from an amount of $530,000, the project was described as being able to construct two fields for a total of $500.000, or $250,000 per field.

Residents Wednesday asked Recreation Commission members whether they planned to pursue constructing the fields given the significantly higher price estimate returned by Tighe & Bond.

“We had rough estimates from Gale, we now have more detailed estimates,” said Rec Commission Chair Robert Virzi, speaking of an earlier report from the Gale group. “Here are all the field possibilities, here are the costs, here’s the potential impact.”

Commission members explained that whether the fields would be actually be built would ultimately be up for a vote at a future town meeting.

Besides the price tag, residents expressed varied concerns including issues of stormwater run-off and the possible presence of ceremonial stone landscapes.

Sheila Carvel read a letter from Doug Harris, the Narragansett Tribe Ceremonial Landscape Preservation Officer, stating his belief that the stone groupings on the land in question were in fact ceremonial landscapes.

“I am a parent of two children and I fully understand the need for fields,” Carvel said. “I also am a parent of children that I am trying to raise in a manner is that they are respectful of their environment and the people around them. I am concerned that if we move forward with this project without vetting other locations, we would be doing a disservice to our children.”

A report looking at other locations in town is in the works and should be complete Dec. 13.

After nearly two hours of public comment, members of the Rec Commission, expecting Anna Meliones and Brud Wright who were absent, voted to strike from consideration both the option offered by Gale about a year ago and the two-field option presented by Tighe & Bond.

The commission will next look at the Dec. 13 report regarding other available parcels in town and collectively consider the options.