Commissioners vote on infill tomorrow night

First of all, I would like to thank and welcome all the new Lebo Citizens readers. I wanted to let everyone know about the Commission Discussion Session tomorrow evening at 6:30 PM in the Municipal Building on Washington Road.

During the Commission Discussion Session, the Commissioners will be voting on the type of infill to be used at Middle and Wildcat Fields. There is the toxic tire crumb infill and the "organic" infill which is used as a filler to the plastic "blades of grass" and plastic backing. Here is a picture of the backing which can be seen at the high school stadium.

Installed July 2010

According to the Discussion Session Agenda, the Commission will be voting on assigning more funds to the turf project at Middle and Wildcat Fields. Unfortunately, the Public is not permitted to speak at this meeting, just observe.

The time to speak would be at 8 PM during the Citizen Comments portion of the Commission Regular Meeting. A sign up sheet is provided at the entrance to the Commission Chambers. Residents are given five minutes to speak on any topic. Here is the agenda for tomorrow's Commission meeting.

The latest justification for this project comes from Commissioner John Bendel.

Most fields in Mt. Lebanon are diamond-based, which are designed primarily for baseball and softball. Over the last decade or so, the popularity of the sports using rectangular-based fields such as lacrosse, soccer and field hockey has increased significantly. Therefore, the focus of field enhancements has been to expand the number of rectangular-based fields. 

He wants to strip mine this area, ripping out the natural grass to add toxic turf at a cost of over one million dollars. You decide what shape it is.

Please sign this petition if you want to halt public funds for use of artificial turf at Wildcat and Middle Fields.

Please wash your hands [aggressively] after reading this

A Mt. Lebanon parent sent me some pics of indoor turf somewhere in Pittsburgh.

What is that slimy thing??

Here is what the parent wrote:

Here is an anonymous pic of local indoor turf. The little ones *sit* on it when their coaches talk to them. My child played on this tonight (we didn't know the hazards until the Lebo issue came up). Anyway, my child said he/she got a piece in his/her mouth because the child sitting next to him/her on the field was playing with it. Kids can just grab the infill by the handful. 

Looking at the handful of infill, (try to ignore the slimy foreign object) the "blades of grass" do separate from the backing.

The commissioners will have more discussions about turf during Monday's Commission Discussion Session.  Starting at 6:15 PM, J.T. Sauer and Associates will review turf infill options with the commissioners. I would be curious to know if J.T. Sauer can identify that slimy foreign object.

Item #2 on the Discussion Session Agenda, Commissioner Bendel will cover the next steps for the field project.

Stick around for the 8:00 Commission meeting, where residents can comment. I will not be at the meeting, due to a work conflict.