Faced with numerous concerns from environmental groups and parents, a County Council committee has directed three Montgomery County agencies to work together to weigh the costs, risks and benefits of replacing grass athletic fields with artificial turf.
The Transportation and Environment Committee asked county schools, environmental and parks officials to prepare a report by the end of the year, before bids for a field at Paint Branch High School go out...*****
Note that the Gazette article on the County Council Committee's discussion of artificial turf fields in Montgomery County refers to finalizing a report before "bids" go out. There's a problem with that "deadline." MCPS doesn't take bids on artificial turf fields. MCPS simply buys what they like. The artificial turf fields purchased so far have been no-bid contracts.
George Leventhal asked specifically when the next go/ no go decsion was (Paint Branch, Spring 2011) and was it feasible to decide to use the same funds for a grass field instead at that time (MCPS said yes). The Council Committee put the marker down. Will they be vigilant in enforcing their directives?
ReplyDeleteWhat they did on July 1 was great. When was the last time you read the following about artificial turf (or other topics): "a County Council committee has directed three Montgomery County agencies to work together to weigh the costs, risks and benefits of"
Floreen, Berliner and Leventhal listened to the "grass roots gripes" about grass. ha ha
sheldon