Sag Harbor School District Hosts Second Community Forum on Marsden Lots; Town Officials Set Conditions for Use of CPF in Purchase

The main feature of the Sag Harbor School District’s second community forum on the purchase of the Marsden Street lots on Wednesday night, January 25, was what amounted to a final pitch — no pun intended — to the public and Southampton Town Board.

The district is urging town officials, and district residents, to consider an alternative to a 100 percent natural grass playing surface for the athletic field that will ultimately be built on the four adjoining lots on the north side of the residential street.

To use a sports metaphor, it was essentially a Hail Mary pass.

The Town Board, which will soon schedule a public hearing and then vote on whether to appropriate $6 million from the Community Preservation Fund to help cover the cost to purchase the lots, said in an offer letter sent to the district on January 21 that it would not schedule the public hearing until the district agrees to certain terms. The conditions for accepting the CPF money include a promise to construct a 100 percent natural grass field, and the district has agreed to make the field open to town residents as a community recreational space whenever the field is not in use by the school district.

The letter, signed by the town’s acting CPF manager, Jacqueline Fenson, outlined a list of 12 terms and conditions for the town’s offer to purchase the development rights to the Marsden Street lots with a contribution of $6 million from the CPF.

Also included is a requirement that the district submit a full site plan for the lots, including all on-site amenities, accompanied by a stormwater pollution prevention plan, as well as a “dark sky”-compliant lighting plan. The letter also states that stadium lighting would be prohibited, and says that the district must define the terms of public access to the field in a public access agreement, which would provide hours and times that any Southampton Town residents could use the property, and that agreement must be available for public review at a public hearing before the acquisition.

The term that has been the biggest sticking point has been the playing surface. The letter states that “all playing surfaces shall be 100 percent natural in perpetuity and maintained in a manner to minimize the use of fertilizer and synthetic pesticides.”

In a final attempt to persuade the public, and the Town Board, to consider an alternative to the 100 percent natural grass term, the district invited Aaron Golembiewski, a representative from the hybrid turf company Turf Talents to the forum. He gave an in-person presentation on the company’s product, a hybrid turf playing field that is composed of 91 percent natural grass and less than 10 percent artificial “stabilizing” fibers.

He was joined, via Zoom, by the company’s founder, Arno Harmsen, who is also a partner in another company, Drain Talent, which makes a state-of-the-art irrigation and drainage system that is often paired with hybrid turf playing surfaces.

The hybrid surfaces have become ubiquitous in Europe, particularly for professional soccer teams. Golembiewski quipped that “Messi plays on turf,” referring to the international star who recently led Argentina to the World Cup title.

Sag Harbor School Superintendent Jeff Nichols had asked the members of the Southampton Town Board to consider the hybrid turf option, which seemingly had the support of the School Board as well. The district said earlier this week that it had decided to back away from a fully artificial turf option, based on feedback from the community, with many members expressing concerns about the product.

The hybrid turf was an option the district wanted the community to consider as a possible way to ensure that the field — which will be heavily trafficked, because it will not only be used by district student-athletes for games and practices but will be open to the community as well — would remain in good playing condition and not deteriorate quickly.

Residents who spoke at the forum expressed concerns about the cost of the hybrid turf product and high-tech drainage system, and some expressed that even a small percentage of artificial fibers in the product was a concern for them.

There were also members of the community who expressed support for the hybrid surface. Former School Board member Chris Tice said that “to have a field that can’t perform at a high level is a disadvantage to our athletes.”

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman was the only member of the Town Board in attendance at the meeting, although Southampton Town Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara was also present via Zoom. Schneiderman, speaking at the forum, said he and his fellow board members were interested in “trying to find a solution the community can embrace.”

“I’ve made the school fully aware of the conditions the town would like to see met to hold a public hearing,” he said. “I think we’re getting closer.

“We were asked to consider this hybrid surface, and I didn’t know what it was and wanted to hear more about it,” he continued. “What’s in the [offer letter] is that we want 100 percent grass, and that’s based on the community response.”

Schneiderman said he liked what he heard about the drainage system — which can be used with a fully natural grass field — and said he did not think the inclusion of that system would be an issue.

“The underground, we’re less concerned about,” he said. “We are concerned that the surface is 100 percent natural.”