Documentation obtained from MCPS reveals that the artificial turf at Richard Montgomery High School is warranted for eight years, but only if field use is limited to 3000 hours per year and required maintenance is performed and logged.
FieldTurf Tarkett Warranty
3000 hours per year over 52 weeks is approximately 60 hours per week, or eight hours a day. How much is the field actually used? I would be concerned more about satisfying the maintenance and usage requirements - who is going to ensure that visiting teams playing one game at Richard Montgomery during a season will have the proper footwear?
ReplyDelete8 years? Wow. MCPS told the County Council that artificial turf fields were good for 10 years. This means that the cost analysis that MCPS gave to the County Council was seriously flawed (again).
ReplyDeleteHere is the document where Superintendent Weast told the County Council that artificial turf fields would have a 10 year life expectancy.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/agenda/cm/2008/080219/20080219_ED03.pdf
The fields that are failing before eight years around the country are heavily used to tune of something like 600-1200 hours. Field turf will not replace the fields for free- you negotiate a "discount". The real cost of a new rug appears to be on avg half a million more or less depending on whether past or under warranty. BUt they will not do it for free.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the FieldTurf product is the WORST in the industry. Their marketing on the other hand is the best. Over the next two years FieldTurf of CANADA will have to replace over 100 fields because they all FAILED.
ReplyDeleteAs for a discount, we overpaid for the fields that we purchased buy about 25% and when FieldTurf offers a “discount” it is right around where their bid price comes in. What we need to do and what we should have done in the beginning is to get all of the third party testing directly from the third party. What we did was took all of FieldTurf’s pretty overly glossed brochures and “said” that their fields were the BEST and we believed it.
“FieldTurf installs more fields than any other company in the world” Would anyone disagree that the company that makes the most hamburgers does not make the best hamburgers?
Tom
I would agree that just because you make alot of hamburgers doesn't make them the best hamburgers. I would also agree that just because someone has a computer & access to the internet means they know what there talking about.
ReplyDeleteIn my opionion Fieldturf is the BEST turf company which can back it's product with customer satisfaction and scientific fact. I do know what I am talking about, my name is John King, of KingSports a base prep installer for Fieldturf fields as well as other makers of turf & natural grass fields. It's my oppinion Fieldturf brand fields are better,safer and have the best warranty that I know of. Thank you
Mr. King, Thanks so much for your comment. So if Fieldturf is the BEST, why would they be worried about a competitive bidding process as per Maryland law?
ReplyDeleteAnd can you explain why MCPS pays so much more for the Fieldturf fields that other school districts that have bid out their high school artificial turf football field purchases? Thanks!
Janis and other misinformed individuals.Lets stop writing with hate and negativity and focus on fact and positive aspects.I know these systems well and will try to address some of the misconceptions posted.#1"Who is going to supply proper footwear for R M field"-If this person spent the same amount of time researching the product as they spent posting misinformation they would realize that the same footwear used for natural grass is used for Fieldturf because it is the only synthetic turf product which actually replicates natural grass. Fieldturf did all initial research and development of this product and patented over 35 different components to replicate natural grass. This is just one of the many reasons that MCPS selected Fieldturf. #2 "8 year warranty then why does the MCPS say the fields last 10 years"-When a car warranty expires can you still drive the car? Fieldturf is the only company to have its fields last longer then 10 years (due to infill patents). In fact the first 100 completed are going into their 12 season of play. This is another reason MCPS selected Fieldturf.#3 "If Fieldturf is the best, why then worried about competative bidding". Once again misinformation. The Fieldturf contract being used is bid out competatively on a national level and was awarded to Fieldturf due to field success, financial stability, and quality of product. Every company has the opportunity to bid and they did not win. This contract allows the state of MD to use a contract(competatively bid)to recieve the best value in a timely manner, from skilled industry technicians. It makes the process more effiecient and saves time and money on bidding each project, defining specifications, issuing drawings, bid contestments, and hiring more layers of people to be involved (i.e. desgin consultants, architects, engineers etc). I do understand this is Montgomery County and for some reason we love "Red Tape" here, but MCPS should actually be applauded for getting something done in a timely manner as well as being a huge success. Additionaly why would the county want to put that liability on themselves? By using this contract they shift all potential problems to AEPA MD contract people. I have not heard anything besides rave reviews about Richard Montgomery and Blair HS not to mention the added dimension for extra use for the band, other schools, community, PE classes etc). Many jurisdictions have tried in the past to do it on their own and have absorbed a great deal of internal "soft costs" which taxpayers never hear about and have received an inferior product that has fallen apart with no warranty.#4 "Explain why Fieldturf fields are more expensive then other schools bid out fields in Montgomery County". Again if you did the research you would know. Montgomery County has one of the strictest Storm Water Management requirements in the Nation (mainly do to Ches Water Shed), and MCPS requires a minimum of 13" of stone and double the excavation and deconsolodation of that 1 foot below grade then that of a typical system of 6" total in surrounding counties. That is the major reason. Some other reasons are the actual product itself. For instance, Richard Montgomery has 10lbs of sand/rubber infill per sqft (roughly about 900,000lbs). Competative prods, that have failed, put in as little as 180,000 lbs of only cheap grade rubber. Now I do not think you can even call that a competitor because Fieldturf has so much more infill which has proven to be safer, reduce injuries, and has lasted over 12 years!I have no interest here besides to actually thank MCPS for cutting through the red tape and actually getting something done that allows our children and community to play more and play safer.Thank you Mr. King for your first hand insight. Its nice to hear from someone that is actually working on the projects and KNOWS what they are talking about.Take home message is please do your research before you spread misinformation and please try to post some positive messages as well(life is short,try to enjoy it!).
ReplyDeleteHere we are in 2012 and the Towson University FieldTurf artificial turf football field only lasted 4.5 years. That's a fact.
DeleteIn addition, the Parents' Coalition and others have done public information act requests for the "contracts" used to purchase artificial turf in Montgomery County. To date, no contract has been produced. No "AEPA MD" contract as was cited in the above anonymous comment.
It appears the above comment was more about cover up than reality.
@ anonymous - No name? So much "information" and no source.
ReplyDeleteReally, you've seen some competive bids for artificial turf in Montgomery County? Cool. Prove it. Post the documents. Because the taxpayers have been told there was no bidding.
How about some facts? Anytime you want to produce documents we will be more than happy to post them.
Have you been listening to the public comment for the last two nights from schools all over Montgomery County? Guess they forgot "life was short" and decided to tell the public about the serious needs of their school buildings. Overpaying for artificial turf is great when you have money to burn, MCPS doesn't and our students are suffering the consequences on a daily basis with deteriorating school buildings.
Open Invitation to FieldTurf Tarkett officers and staff:
ReplyDeleteAs long as you are reading this blog, please feel free to forward documents to us that you think are relevant to the discussion. We will be happy to post what you send us that relates to the purchase of artificial turf by MCPS. Thanks so much!
Send documents to:
contact AT parentscoalitionmc.com
Update 1/10/10
ReplyDeleteKing Sports is the contractor that has been hired to excavate the Walter Johnson High School sod football field. Their sign is now displayed on the WJHS fence.
See comment from Mr. King above.